Vampire Light
by iwuvpenguins101
Summary: Kai Kurosaki, the heir of the Kurosaki bloodline, is asked to attend the Cross Academy Night Class. When she first goes, it seemed nothing bad could happen. But soon a threat looms and her past creeps up to her. Will she be able to come to terms with it and, in doing so, stop avoiding the inevitable? And will she let a certain someone help her? Rated for swearing
1. Chapter I: Arrival

**Hello, salutions, konnichiwa and welcome to my first ever beta-ed story! *round of applause***

**Zero: You make it sound like its a big deal.**

**Only because it is :D Coriana, I can never thank you enough for the hard work you put in. You're the most beautiful and amazing beta to be able to spot that many spelling and grammar mistakes! And as you can see, I did consider some of your opinions on the story, so thanks a bunch! Also, i realise that i made a mistake with uploading the story, the first 'Vampire Light' was of another story I'm working on. I only blame my carelessness, and thanks Coriana for pointing that out before I get to super mega ultra busy to realise XD ****Now for the disclaimer so I don't get sued.**

**Aido: This gorgeous author does not own Vampire Knight in any shape or form, no matter how much she wishes she owns me. What she does own, however, is the plot of the fanfiction and Kai Kurosaki, the OC. **

**O.o Aido-sempai, did you just use the disclaimer to flirt with me?**

**Aido: Yes, yes I did.**

***sighs* Sometimes I worry about you.**

**Kai: Isn't there something you're forgetting?**

**Yes! Very important, so please take note. KAI IS A GIRL. I gave her a boy's name to be unique :p**

**Enjoy, and dare to be different :)**

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**Chapter I: Arrival**

I was in Otou-sama's mansion in my moonlit room, gazing out into the distance. My raven black hair hung loosely on my shoulders and my bangs were practically in my eyes, but I barely noticed. You'd think I was acting as any noble should, but I was really staring at a fox attempting to capture a rabbit in its hole. It was quite funny actually, watching an animal fail at getting its dinner.

My door opened and I didn't need to turn around to know it was Outo-sama, Kurosaki Haru: the current head of the all-important Kurosaki family.

"Kai-chan," he said softly. "He's here."

I didn't need to ask who 'he' was. This was the moment I'd been dreading ever since I got the news from Otou-sama that I would be attending the Cross Academy Night Class with people I barely knew.

"Otou-sama, I don't wanna go," I whined, though my voice was barely above a whisper. My entire life was these four walls that surrounded me, to have my father right there with me. He was all I had, the only person who truly understood me.

He sighed, his fingers running through his light brown, borderline blonde hair (I had inherited most of my appearance from my mother). "You know that it is vital for us that you attend. My views are the same as Kaien-san's, to have vampires and humans coexist. What better way to show the Kurosaki's full support than for your attendance? And it's not like you've never been around humans before, Kai-chan. If I recall correctly, you get along just fine with their race."

I shook my head at my father. "I don't mind the humans, Otou-sama, you know that full well." I paused as I wrung my fingers. "It's the other vampires I'm worried about. I'm not exposed to other vampires as much as I am to humans. My mind probably doesn't even have the same thought patterns."

Otou-sama gave me a comforting embrace. "You'll do just fine, Kai-chan. Remember, you have Kurosaki blood flowing through those veins."

I nodded at his reassuring words. "I understand."

When we separated, he gave me one of his dazzling smiles. "Good! Your suitcases have been packed and are already in the car. Don't worry one of them is packed full of Pocky," he added before I could ask.

I couldn't help but grin back. He knew me too well. "Thank you, Otou-sama."

I rushed downstairs; interested to meet the person who was taking me to Cross Academy because Otou-sama had said that it was to be one of the Night Class students. On my way down, I tied my hair into two ponytails with red ribbons – an action so practiced it was instinctive. When I got to the sitting room, I found a tall young man with blonde hair reading a book. Upon closer inspection I found it to be manga…Bleach, it looked like.

"Ichijou-sama," Otou-sama said from behind me.

The blonde looked up expectantly and I noticed that he had the most sparkly green eyes that I had ever seen in my lifetime. The corners of his mouth rose in a soft smile and as soon as I saw this, all the worries I had in my heart melted away as I realised I could trust him.

"Kurosaki-sama," he greeted as he stood and bowed.

"Meet my daughter, Kai-chan," Otou-sama continued.

A look of confusion flashed across Ichijou's face. "Oh…? The one I'm taking to the Academy?

"She's my only child, Ichijou-sama, I think she would be the only Kurosaki Kai here," Otou-sama replied jokingly. That was what I loved about him; he wasn't much of a serious man like I knew most vampires to be.

"She seems so young…" Ichijou-sama said, still looking confused.

Otou-sama chuckled lightly. "You're not the only one to make that mistake. She's seventeen, almost your age."

Ichijou-sama's eyes widened in understanding and I felt my face reddening at the way they shown. "Is that so? My apologies then, Kurosaki-sama." And he flashed another smile.

It took me a moment to realise that he was talking to me at this point and another moment to remember that I hadn't even greeted him yet. Cursing at myself internally for my lack of respect for an Ichijou, of all the families I could've disrespected in the vampire world, I bowed deeply in embarrassment. "It's okay, Ichijou-sama. It's a mistake most people make."

"Kai-chan." I turned to face my father, who was speaking with me now. "You had best be going. The sooner you leave, the sooner your arrival."

"Of course, Otou-sama," I replied politely, then threw myself at him in a tight hug. "I'll miss you so much. And don't worry; I'll represent our family well."

"I'll miss you too," he said. "Remember to visit me as often as you can," he reminded me as I made my way out the front door.

"I will," I called back, closing the door behind me. I turned to face Ichijou when we got to the car, my bags in the trunk as Otou-sama had said. "Ichijou-sama-"

"Call me Takuma," he interrupted, his smile never faltering.

"Takuma-sempai," I said, trying again. "Will I…like Cross Academy?"

He paused for a second, and that began to scare me. "No," he stated. When I froze in place he laughed at me, obviously finding my expression amusing. "If anything, you'll love it," he said truthfully and started the engine.

-0O0-

When I got out of the car a couple of hours later, I finally got to see Cross Academy with my own two eyes. It was a lot bigger than I had ever imagined, the full moon flooding it with its rays which gave it a more enchanting feel. I gazed in wonder as Takuma took my bags out of the car.

"I'll do that," I insisted, taking both suitcases. Takuma shrugged as he closed the door behind him and walked me through the gates. It was even more beautiful on the inside, and I found myself gazing at my surroundings in awe.

After walking through the grounds for a few minutes I noticed two people in black uniforms, obviously waiting for us. The one was a girl, maybe two if not two-and-a-half inches taller than me, with short brunette hair and warm red eyes. The other was a boy who looked just older than her, with silver-white hair and lavender eyes that gave me a cold stare.

"Hi Yuuki-chan!" Takuma said happily. It was strange how much energy he had after that long drive. He was so damn happy all the time; it was almost invampire if there was such a word.

The girl smiled. "Takuma-sempai, how was your trip?"

"A bit tiring," he said with a sigh.

The boy with the lavender eyes still gave me a cold stare throughout this exchange. I shuffled on my feet feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Oh!" Yuuki said, bowing quickly. "Gomenesai, Kurosaki-sama. I forgot to introduce myself.

I'm Cross Yuuki, and that's Kiryuu Zero. We are the prefects at this school."

I bowed swiftly in return. "It's a pleasure to meet you two."

The boy I now knew as Zero huffed lightly. "I wasn't aware that the Chairman was taking in children as well."

With difficulty, I ignored his purposefully cruel words. "I'm seventeen, I just look younger."

He made no reply and I nearly lunged at him for his lack of respect, but I remembered I was there representing my family's bloodline.

"Takuma-sama, we can take it from here," Yuuki said kindly. "The Chairman asked us to take her to him since he thought you would feel tired after your trip."

My eyes flickered to his direction and I saw him shrug lightly. "If it is the Chairman's wishes, I can't really argue now, can I?" He grabbed both my suitcases and ignored my protests. "I'm going to take them to the dorm and leave them in your room. I'll see you tomorrow…or later on today," he said checking his watch. He gave me one last smile before leaving and I couldn't help but smile back. His joy was so damn contagious, it practically radiated from him. I doubted he was capable of ever not smiling.

When he was out of sight, however, the reassurance I had flickered out like a candle and my smile faltered.

"Come on," Yuuki said, proceeding to drag me. I knew that if I hadn't been used to human antics, I would've been offended, but I wasn't. They led me through the large doors to the school building, leading me through brightly lit hallways, up staircases and past an excessive amount of doors until finally the enthusiastic girl burst through one of these said doors and happily yelled, "Kurosaki-sama is here, Chairman."

I knew Kaien before these events very well since he was a good friend of Otou-sama's. The last time I had seen him was when the two of them had made plans to send me here.

"Kai-sama!" he said giving me a tight hug. I was used to his playfulness and enthusiasm and immediately smiled. Kaien and Otou-sama were very similar in personality. Only difference was Kaien's energy was quadruple the amount Otou-sama had.

"Cross-san," I said, hugging him back just as tightly. "It's so good to see you again."

"You too," he replied. "It's great to finally have you as one of my students."

Yuuki stared at this exchange, completely surprised. "You know her?"

Kaien turned back to her, breaking the embrace. "That's right, I never told you."

I rolled my eyes internally. Typical Kaien.

"Yuuki, Kai-sama is the heir of the Kurosaki bloodline. Her father works with humans all the time in hospitals around the world, using his ability to heal and help severely sick people.

He's a very good friend of mine and probably believes in my pacifism more than I do."

The brunette-haired prefect nodded. "I understand."

Kaien turned back to me, his face suddenly serious. "Kai-sama, I want you to be a part time member of the Disciplinary Committee."

I was astonished. That certainly came out of nowhere. "W-what?"

"You could help out when Yuuki and Zero can't do so. You're the only vampire I can genuinely trust with such a task."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Zero spoke up for the first time since his hurtful comment a few minutes earlier. "We're supposed to have the Disciplinary Committee to keep the Day Class from finding out about the Night Class. Having a Night Class student as a member defeats the purpose."

"No it doesn't," Yuuki interjected. "Besides, having a third person will help even if it is only part time, right Chairman?"

"Exactly. You two can take a night off once a week when Kai-sama has her shift," Kaien pointed out. "I'm sure you don't mind, do you?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Anything for you, Cross-san."

"Good! So it's settled, you can have your shift every Saturday night when there's no change over, or whenever else the time calls for it." He gave me an armband similar to that of Yuki and Zero's but it was black. "You'll find your uniform on your bed and you begin classes tomorrow night. Yuuki, Zero, please escort her to the Moon Dorms."

Yuuki nodded and led me out, a disgruntled Zero trailing after.

"It's great that we have a third member to help us," she said excitedly. "Having only two people to split the work can be quite tiring."

I nodded, imagining how difficult the work was between the two of them. It must've been incredibly hard. "I'll do anything in my power to help you guys. I'll even watch the Night

Class to keep them in check for you."

Zero gave me an icy glare. "Don't think that you being a friend of the Chairman's is going to change anything. You're still a vampire."

I paused, not knowing how to respond to his words. Zero...

"Zero!" Yuuki yelled in embarrassment. "That's no way to treat a future partner. Gomenesai, Kurosaki-sama."

I swear I heard Zero mutter something along the lines of, 'Partner my ass'¸ but since I hadn't been paying much attention I couldn't be so sure.

"Call me Kai," I said. "Calling me Kurosaki-sama makes me feel like Otou-sama."

Zero said nothing at this, continuing to mutter to himself.

"Here are the Moon Dorms, Kai-sama," Yuuki announced brightly. "If you need anything, just come on over to the Sun Dorms and I'll help you out."

"Arigatou¸ Cross-san," I said, bowing. "You too, Kiryuu-san for your help." Or lack thereof, I added mentally.

"Our pleasure," Yuuki chirped, blushing. She then took Zero's arm. "Come one Zero, we need to go sleep."

I watched as the two of them left, then went to the doors that led into the Moon Dorms to open them. When I did, I stifled a gasp when I noticed how big it was. Surely this is a little elaborate for a dormitory? I thought as I stepped inside, shutting the doors behind me. As I was the only person in the dorms at present, my footsteps echoed around the room. I was awestruck at the beauty of it, the energy of the light from the chandelier radiating above me. I reached my hand out, my fingers relaxed, therefore curling upwards as a glowing, bright white sphere formed above it. The power I possessed as a vampire was…different. I harnessed the same thing that vampires were supposed to hate and avoid (well, according to those bastard authors Stephanie Meyer and frikkin Hollywood anyway). Light. As such, walking around in the sun was never a problem for me, it just wasn't that bright.

"Interesting power you possess."

I jumped, the light from my hands flickered and was out in almost an instant. I turned to find the reason for the disturbance was a dark-haired man with red eyes. There was this powerful aura that emanated from him that screamed authority and I instantly knew that he was Kuran Kaname, the pureblood.

"Kuran-sama." I bowed. I had never seen an actual pureblood up close before. "I'm so sorry if I intruded or disrupted in any way."

I stopped abruptly when Kaname put his hands on my cheeks and lifted my head up so I faced him, my eyes locking onto his own. His eyes… I thought, they look…sad.

"You're the new student?" he asked. I nodded meekly. "Kurosaki Kai. The Chairman was right when he said you looked young compared to us."

I didn't know whether it was rude to give a response or rude not to so I tried the latter, figuring it was safer.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he asked eventually.

I shook my head. "Gomennasai, Kuran-sama, it's just…I'm not used to being away for so long and these vampires…" I trailed off.

Kaname's expression was unreadable. "You say that as if you were not one yourself."

"I am, I just, I don't…" I paused. "I'm usually more at home surrounded by humans. It may sound insane, and I realise my father wants me to become friends with others of my kind so there's a balance but…"

He let go of my cheeks. "You'll see there are a whole range of vampires for you to get along with in the Night Class. May I show you to your room?"

I nodded and followed after him as he made his way upstairs. "You'll be in your own as everybody else is sharing. Will that be all right?"

"Yes, Kuran-sama," I responded almost automatically. It was like I was a robot or something, but I didn't want to displease him. I was representing the Kurosaki bloodline.

"I'm aware that the Chairman made you a part-time member of the Disciplinary Committee," he stated. "I assume you are aware of the certain rules vampires are to oblige to."

"Yes, Kuran-sama," I repeated. This person was almost as scary as Zero, and he didn't even do anything.

We stopped in the front of a large door. Kaname opened it and I found myself in a room flooded in moonlight. I thanked him as he left and made my way over to the bed. My suitcases were located next to it and the Night Class uniform was on top of the bed as promised. Lifting it up, I examined the white outfit. A skirt, I thought in disappointment. How...convenient for my job. Setting it down again, I sat down on the giant bed staring at the moon, my hands reaching up to catch the light it made. The glowing sphere formed above my head, brightening up the room by just a fraction. This power I possess...is very strange I suppose.

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**And that concludes the first chapter! What're your thoughts? Love it? Hate it?**

**Zero: You made me look cruel...**

**Kai: That's how you're supposed to act, baka. It's what you're like in the manga and anime.**

**Zero: O.o, frikkin' OC, thinks she knows everything.**

**Kai: I'm right here you know...**

**_Before _the two have a cat fight, I would just like to say thank you to Coriana again. I'm sending a huge hug to you for your amazing...ness.**

**Aido: That isn't a word.**

**I know that, but I'll make up words if I want to. In case you didn't realise, I'M THE AUTHOR!**** So this is me saying REVIEW! Praise is adored, criticism is appreciated and flames are ignored.**

**iwuvpenguins is out, peace :)**


	2. Chapter II: Introduction

**Hello, and welcome to the second most anticipated installment of VAMPIRE LIGHT**

**Sorry it's late, but it really isn't my fault. HIGH SCHOOL'S THE PROBLEM! WE SHOULD COMPLAIN TO THE EDUCATION MINISTER FOR TAKING AWAY EVERY ASPECT OF MY SOCIAL (and internet) LIFE!**

**Kai: -_-" _How_ are you even an author?**

***sticks tongue out at her* In case you didn't realise, Kai-baka, I made you! You should be greatful *flounces away***

**Kai: O.o *sigh* Now to go onto more important issues. Seriously guys? Only two reviews? and the one was her beta? WTF?**

**Zero: It was only the first chapter Kai, you can't expect _everyone_ to review.**

**Kai: Shut your face! Now we need someone to do the disclaimer. TAKUMA! COME DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Takuma: Okay! *random sparkles appear out of nowhere* iwuvpenguins101 does not own Vampire Knight or any of its original characters. **

**Thank you for doing the disclaimer, Takuma *hugs* And thank you Coriana for being the most precious, patient beta in the entire universe! I am so humbled that you're doing this for me. This story would be nothing but bad grammar, spelling mistakes and just plain bad without you.**

**And now, without further ado, onto chapter 2! (hey, that rhymes XD I'm such a poetic genius it amazes me)**

**Enjoy, and dare to be different :)**

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**Chapter II: Introductions**

The next time I opened my eyes there was light coming in from the window, the kind of subdued yellowish light that told you it was late afternoon, but not quite dusk. Getting up, I stretched and yawned, feeling slightly drowsy.

Wanting to wake myself up completely, I hopped into the shower and turned on the cold water to have a quick wash and then got dressed into my uniform. These damn uniforms and their skirts, I thought in disgust as I tried, unsuccessfully, to tug it lower. You'd think Kaien was a pervert to have them so short. I amused myself with that last thought of a pervy Kaien. Considering his personality, it wasn't difficult to imagine. Who knows, maybe he was secretly a perv.

A soft knock made me snap out of my thoughts and I frowned at the door.

"Kurosaki-sama?" a voice floated into the room. I didn't recognise this one at all. Where Takuma-sempai's was kind and optimistic, this one had a twist to it that I couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"Come in," I responded gently, although I was enjoying my own company and didn't want to see anybody at that particular point in time.

The door creaked open and I saw a blanket of golden hair, evidently messier than the other blonde I knew. What struck me were his dazzling blue eyes and how they gleamed brilliantly in the light. Something seemed wrong with them though because they were unnaturally narrow, his eyebrows close together as he blinked incessantly.

Crap! I thought as I realised that he was, in fact, squinting. I dashed hastily to the window, drawing the curtains to prevent the cause of his discomfort to continue. When the light was reasonably filtered I twirled back around to face the stranger in my room to give him an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, sempai."

His eyes relaxed and he smiled warmly, not unlike Takuma-sempai's but it had a twist to it that I couldn't identify. "That's okay. When Kaien told us about you he did mention your…uniqueness."

My face changed to a quizzical expression. "What else did he say about me?"

"That you look younger than what you actually are and that he and your dad are close friends," he said frankly with a shrug.

My mind wandered to a few years back when Kaien and Otou-sama were both at home. The two were goofing off and…well, let's just say that the nurses handed in a letter of resignation and Otou-sama had to wait a full three years for everything to finally blow over and hire new ones.

"Close is one way of putting it," I mumbled.

The sapphire-eyed vampire tilted his head to the side but didn't ask me to elaborate.

"Is there any reason why you're here?" I asked, not harshly but more enquiringly.

"Apart from wanting to meet you before the rest of the Night Class?" he asked with another shrug. "No."

I forced myself to not roll my eyes at him and calling him baka or something. "You can call me Kai."

"I'm Aido Hanabusa," he said.

I bowed deeply. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aido-sama."

The gap between us closed as he walked closer to me with intense concentration. Studying me like a mastermind would when solving a seemingly impossible equation.

"Sempai?" I said tentatively, feeling like my personal space was being violated.

He sighed and stepped back again. "You're a very pretty girl."

My cheeks heated up. I was used to people saying I was cute and adorable because of my youthful look, but never has a guy this gorgeous-

Gorgeous? Where the hell did that pop up from?

I took a closer look at him. His messy hair and his deep blue eyes were the perfect combination. The mischievous look that his face naturally had made him look hotter, a look that I knew any human model would die for. In a word, he was amazing. In an even better word, gorgeous.

But I suppose I couldn't just call him gorgeous. Out of all the vampires I had ever met in my life I've found one common denominator: they're all attractive. It's fact. Even Otou-sama is good-looking.

"Kai-sama, are you staring at me?" Aido asked with a smirk.

My eyes widened as it dawned on me that when I was in my own little world I was in fact staring at him without realising it. I cursed my lack of being aware of what was going on around me as I frowned at Aido. It was obvious that he was relishing in this moment. I then found out what that 'twist' to his voice and smile was.

"Arrogant!" I blurted before I could stop myself. I covered my mouth quickly, biting my tongue to stop myself from saying anything else. I didn't mean to say that, I just figured him out when my mental defences were down. What would he do? Shout at me? Order me to be kicked out? I hadn't even been here a day and already I was representing my family badly.

He blinked twice at me. "Excuse me?"

I wrung my fingers nervously. "Gomen, I wasn't thinking. You have every right to be mad at me, Sempai."

Despite my mental breakdown I found the blonde chuckling at me. Chuckling, even after what I had said. At that point I wondered if vampires could be sent to mental asylums.

"Sorry," he said between snickers. "It's just…Kai-sama, you're highly amusing."

My mouth dropped open. That was the last thing I had expected him to say to me. "What…?"

His smile broadened. "I think you'll make an interesting addition to the Night Class." Then he turned to make his way out of the already open door, but not before saying, "You know, Kai-chan, I think we'll get along fine. Who knows, we might even become great friends."

And he left my room.

I carried on staring at the closed door, an incredulous look on my face. What just happened? "You just found out that you're surrounded by crazy vampires, that's what," I said quietly as I threw myself onto the soft bed. If Aido-sempai is like that, Heaven knows what the rest of the Night Class is gonna be like.

-0O0-

The screaming sent shivers up my spine. My breath quickened and my hair was on end.

"Are you ready?" Takuma asked from behind me.

I shook my head vigorously. There was no way in hell I wanted the gate to open, to have to step out of the Moon Dorms with that happening right outside.

The gate doors began to open menacingly and it took me all my power to prevent myself from hightailing it out of there right then. Cold sweat formed on my head and I was all jittery. "Otou-sama, if I don't make it, I just wanted you to know that I love you," I whispered so nobody else could hear my silent prayer.

The doors opened fully and I got a clear view of the horrors that were going on outside the comfort of the Moon Dorms. Yuuki and Zero were trying, rather unsuccessfully, to fight back a herd of screaming fangirls.

"KYAAAA!" the girls yelled. "It's the Night Class!"

Aido grinned brightly. "Hello ladies! You're all looking rather cute today!"

"Idol-sempai!" the girls said in unison. "You're so amazing."

I tried not to make a beeline for the front door of the Moon Dorms.

The Night Class proceeded through the makeshift aisle that the fangirls had formed for them, a tired Yuuki and highly-annoyed Zero struggling to keep them back.

"Look, next to Ichijou-sempai," one of the girls said.

"Is that a new girl?" another one asked.

The loud screams turned into subdued murmurs as the girls gawked at me. A few of them began to whisper and I groaned internally. This much fuss over me?

"No way she's part of the Night Class, she's way too young." They obviously didn't intend for me to hear them, but my vampire hearing caught them out.

Again with the young thing? I thought I went past this phase. Curse my youthful beauty.

"Who cares? If she does so much as put a hair on Aido-sempai-"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the rest of the threat. Like I would ever get with that jerk. And it wasn't like

I came here to get into an angsty high school romance anyway. I was here for Otou-sama, period.

"As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't stand a chance with someone like Aido-san," another girl said.

I coughed down a scoff. Kai Kurosaki not standing a chance? Who the hell did they think they were messing with? I could've killed them right then, but I was trained to know better than to let my anger get the best of me.

"I say she poses no threat to us," the first one said.

And as soon as she said that, girls agreed and the screaming resumed. A lot of vulgar words went through my mind right now and Otou-sama would probably blame my hanging out with Ryuuzaki for that. Not that I would blame him, Ryu-kun's vocab tended to be…colourful.

"Stand back! Come on!" Yuuki said as she made sure the Day Class girls wouldn't get out of line.

Of course it would be easier if Aido didn't influence them, I thought, rolling my eyes at the disgusting display in front of me. The blonde had gone to a couple of blushing fan girls and smiled charmingly, "Hey there, what's your blood-type?"

My hearing him say that almost made me roll my eyes. For Aido to say that he was either very brave or very stupid, and I had some doubts about the former.

I heard a shrill sound in my sensitive ear and I winced away from the whistle Yuuki was blowing. "Aido-sempai, you know that kind of information is forbidden!" she said.

Her shouts made me cringe. God, why did everything need to be so loud? Was it too much to ask for some quiet for goodness sake?

"You guys need to get to class." I didn't need to turn to find out who said it; I could identify that cold tone a mile away. Zero was in front of us and was referring to the entire Class but had eyes only for Kaname. The tension was so thick between them you could cut it with a knife.

Two straight minutes and an eternity later I couldn't stand it anymore and wedged myself between the both of them plastering a smile across my face. "I agree with Zero-kun, ah, Kiryuu-san," I quickly corrected at Zero's glare. "I don't want to be late on my first day of learning."

Kaname then turned his gaze to me. "I suppose we should get to class."

"That's what I just said," Zero muttered along with calling Kaname something Otou-sama would not be proud to hear.

Kaname ignored him completely as he carried on walking; leading the Night Class away from the raucous that was the screaming fan girls.

"So long girls! See you adorable ladies tomorrow!" Aido said happily with a ridiculous grin on his face. It took all my energy to not punch him and call him baka like I normally would.

"Aido-sama, that big head of yours can only lead to a life of misery," one of the girls said in irritation.

I couldn't help but agree with her, especially considering that Aido obviously took unnecessary risks. I wouldn't even have been able to pull off the blood-type stunt like that in front of Otou-sama.

The bored looking maroon-haired vampire to my right sighed as we got to the main school building. "I wonder what would happen if we didn't have the Disciplinary Committee?"

I shuddered, praying that I wouldn't have to be around to find out first hand.

We finally got into a classroom. The sun was fully set behind the horizon but the sky was still a purple colour, showing that it was now twilight.

"Kuroksaki-sama, I suppose it's only proper that the rest of the Night Class were given the chance to introduce themselves," Kaname said.

I hadn't been properly introduced to the rest of the Night Class on account of the fact that Takuma only decided to tell me about having to go to class five minutes before we were supposed to leave. It took me forever to look for my ribbons to tie my hair and then find my way to the front door.

The other vampires responded immediately and turned to face me. The first one to speak was one of the girls. She had blonde hair, but a considerably darker shade than Aido or Takuma's. It was tied into two ponytails, similar to mine except her hair was a lot shorter. "I'm Rima," she said and then stuck a Pocky stick into her mouth.

She seemed nice, plus she ate my favourite candy which meant I could suppress my addiction for the treat without having to deal with weird glances cast in my direction.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the room as none of the Night Class members wanted to speak up. Finally Takuma stepped in, all bright and bubbly. "That's Shiki Senri," he said, pointing to the maroon-haired vamp from earlier.

His smile never faltering, he then stuck his thumb over his shoulder to show that he was referring to the tall, orange-haired guy behind him. "He's Akatsuki Kain, Aido-sama's cousin. The girls in the Day Class call him Wild-sempai, but he's really down to earth."

My eyes glanced at the boy I now knew as Kain. I couldn't blame the girls for nicknaming him that, he did have this wild look about him. But if my knowing him within the last twenty minutes was any indication, they got his personality dead wrong.

"I'm Ruka," the girl with long hair said, not wanting to have Takuma to introduce her. "And that's Seiren."

Seiren had incredibly short, lavender hair and a serious look on her face. I stepped back slightly, feeling uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

"It's really a pleasure to meet you all," I said, bowing deeply. To be honest I was fed up at that point, bowing was so inconvenient for my back.

I know this may sound strange, especially since I'm a vampire myself, but the vampires in the Night Class creeped me out. They just had this look that made me feel…unwelcome. Although at this point they weren't exactly looking at me, it was as if their very presence told me they were paying me close attention, which really seems ridiculous, but it's how I felt.

Without another word, I grabbed my manga and sat down close to the back of the class. Though my eyes were on the book my mind was somewhere else, concentrating on what the others might have been saying. Suddenly, it felt as if all their conversations were centred on me. I couldn't hear most of it, and what I could make out was rather confusing.

"You seem awfully interested in that Yuuki character, Kaname-sama," I heard one the girls say. Ruka I think it was.

I racked my brain, wondering what she possibly could have meant. After continuous pondering and excessive nail biting, I came to the conclusion that it must be code for: Kai-sama's the worst addition the Night Class could ever had. Let's kick her out.

"She…intrigues me," Kaname said softly.

That probably meant, I totally agree with you.

I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, that everyone had their eyes on me but when I looked up they were doing nothing of the sort. Oh, they were good. Very good. Making me all paranoid like that. But I'm totally onto them.

Er, somewhat.

Takuma came to sit beside me with a broad smile on his face and instantly I relaxed. Wow, he was like some kind of tranquility generator or something, just radiating peace. And did he ever not smile? Not that I was complaining, I mean it wasn't as if it got to the extent of creepy, it was a lot more pleasant. And it was obvious that he wasn't faking. Trust me, I can spot a Barbie doll smile a mile away, so it just made me even more relieved to have him around.

Unfortunately for me, his presence was so distracting that I forgot to pretend to read my manga and soon the words and images were just a blur to me.

"You do realise you've been staring at the same page for the past ten minutes," he finally said in amusement.

My face flushed in embarrassment, but I tilted my head in a certain way so that he couldn't see. "Can you blame me for liking the art?"

I heard Takuma chuckle next to me. "I also tend to find the writing on the 'Table of Contents' to be very interesting."

I bit my lip. His last remark didn't help my embarrassment at all, if anything it only doubled it in intensity. Was he paying so much attention to me that he noticed the page I was 'reading'?

Finally, the lecturer started his lesson and I could heave a sigh of relief. Now I could do something without having to feel all paranoid. I shuffled in my seat to get comfy and attempted to listen to the boring lecture about Vampire History.

-0O0-

I got into my room later that night. The moon was still bright and I opened my curtains, as I did every night, to let the light in. I kicked off my shoes and sat on the bed, getting a box of Pocky to gorge myself in since I felt that I deserved it after everything that happened today.

Despite my attempts to ignore feeling it, the paranoia ate at me the entire night. Not once had I ever caught them staring at me, but it felt as if their movements were centred around me, like I was some alien or something sabotaging the delicate balance in their precious Class.

"I should ask Kaien to send me to the Day Class," I muttered to myself. "At least I'm used to humans…vampires, however, are a whole different ballgame."

I ate the Pocky slowly as I thought of my situation. The reason Kaien had put me in the Disciplinary Committee in the first place, even if it was part time, was to keep watch over Night Class. It was obvious that Yuuki and Zero had the Day Class covered (somewhat, anyway), but they couldn't really control the Night Class's actions. I could. I was a vampire myself, and I was trained since I was a fledgling all those years ago to be able to suppress bloodlust. I still drank blood tablets, but if I was put in a situation where a human were to innocently hurt themselves and there's blood gushing out of a wound, I could control myself and actually help them. All that time I spent in hospitals with blood everywhere you looked had really paid off.

"Otou-sama…I'm trying really hard to control my outburst," I said, biting nervously on my Pocky. "But if these vampires don't like me, then am I worthy to be the heir of our bloodline?"

Eventually I was bored out of my mind and decided to go downstairs and find a kitchen to fetch a proper, non-sugary snack that could actually calm my nerves. I was pretty certain that nobody would be up at this time, it had been a whole hour since we came back and the sun would rise soon, the first signs of dawn were evident in the east. I made my way out of my room quietly, thankful that I was wearing my socks to prevent any footsteps from waking up the Night Class.

When I was sure that I got past all the dorms in the girl's part of the wing I made a beeline for the staircase, getting down the steps in record time (Usain Bolt would be proud) and tried to sniff out the kitchen. It took me a while but I finally found my way to the fridge so I grabbed a cup and filled it with milk (I find that any kind of dairy product helps with my nerves, so people might randomly see me with a block of cheese or ice-cream).

Content, and my nerves considerably suppressed, I made my way out of the other kitchen door, humming to a Justin Timberlake song I had heard when Otou-sama and I went to America. The door led to the lounge area, and my humming stopped abruptly as I saw a few of the Night Class members were talking in hushed tones. A quick scan showed me that it was Kaname, Takuma, Aido, Kain and Rima.

It was evident that they were talking about me because as they noticed me standing there, their conversation came to a standstill. But the fact that they were talking about me behind my back wasn't the only reason I was pretty angry, though. The fact that I had done all that sneaking around upstairs for nothing was what made me really peeved.

Kain spoke first. "Kurosaki-sama…" he said in surprise.

I smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." _No I'm not._ "I didn't think anybody would be up at this time." _What normal vampire would?_ "And I couldn't sleep," _Mainly because I was stressing over you guys._ "So I wanted to get something to drink. I'll just go now, gomennasai."

When I was out of the room and out of earshot of their vampire hearing, I groaned. The whole 'perfect, clueless Kurosaki representative' act was killing me. I probably would've given up if it weren't for the fact that I was doing it for Otou-sama.

My fingers trailed up the banister as I made my way up the stairs. I wondered what the vampires were talking about, and I would've spied on them, jumping onto the chandelier and listened in on them, but I couldn't do that because there was a good chance I would get caught and my act would be totally ruined.

"The things I do for my dad," I said, shaking my head.

* * *

**Another chapter done by yours truly XD I promise to make an effort to at least update weekly, but if not I will inform you when to expect the late chapter.**

**What, oh _what_, could the Night Class be thinking, talking about Kai behind her back?**

**You don't wanna miss out on the next chappie! I don't wanna ruin anything for you but if you want a hint, it includes falling from trees XD**

**That doesn't tell you much does it? But you must wanna know, soooooo if you wanna find out READ THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Kai: And remember to review.**

**YES! DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW! It makes me feel so special when you hit that button :3**

**If anything is confusing in the story so far and you're wondering 'dafuq? Who the hell is Ryu?' or something, don't worry. The story is JUST beginning. All I can say is get ready for a fic full of arguments, self discovery and, wait what's that? Could it really be, _romance?_**

**So, please. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. If you do, I'll give you some of Shiki's Pocky (don't tell him I took it though, he'll be pissed)**


	3. Chapter III: Change

**OMFG, I am soo sorry for the late update minna. Crazy crap happened with my computer so I lost the initial third chapter. Gomennasai *bows deeply* **

**Anyway thanks to your reviews-**

**Kai: Or lack thereof**

***ignores stupid OC* -I said to myself, I said 'self, there's no use crying over spilt milk. You must pick yourself and move on, _for the readers!' _and in the internal theatre that is my mind a audience of about eight milliong people were cheering me on every three hundred words or so on the rewritten chapter XD**

**BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THAT, RIGHT? You all payed to read a story ^^**

**Aido: Umm, they didn't pay squat, penguin.**

**O.O oh...well then. Ummmmmmm, ZERO GET 'CHO ASS OVA HERE TO DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Kai: ...**

**Aido:...**

**Takuma:...Zero isn't here right now.**

**But I don't want to abuse _you_ guys into doing the disclaimer T.T its no fun because you don't protest.**

**Kai: *sigh* iwuvpenguins101 does not own Vampire Light, Bleach, Ouran High School Host Club or _Rock Your Body_ by Justin Timberlake. She only owns...me**

**AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!**

**Kai: How can I with you reminding me all the time?**

**Oh, well in that case. What're we waiting for?**

**Enjoy and dare to be different :)**

* * *

**Chapter III: Change**

That entire morning I was tossing and turning in bed over what I had witnessed earlier. Kaname, Takuma, Aido, Kain and Rima were all in one room and without any doubt talking about me. But that wasn't the only problem. It was the fact that I didn't know what aspect of me they were talking about.

The thought was enough to make me feel sick.

Where did I go wrong? I tried so hard to keep my mask on last night, I really did. I controlled my anger pretty well, I kept all my sarcastic comments to myself and I didn't insult anybody at all.

Wait a moment.

All insults?

Oh no.

I jumped out of my bed in a panic. Cold sweat began to form on my forehead which I proceeded to wipe off.

Can vampires even release sweat?

No. Stop. I was letting my mind wander and I didn't have time for that. The stress was getting to me and I couldn't let it do that. Not with my family name at stake, not with Otou-sama's trust in me on the line.

I needed to relax. After all, I was beginning to start to have some kind of panicking fit which I had to prevent.

But if I knew one thing, it was that I sure as hell couldn't relax in this Godforsaken place. Not with them in the same building, not with Aido and Takuma-

Oh God, what did Takuma think? He was like the closest thing I had to a decent friend in this place. Aido was okay, I guess. I mean, he intrigued me but I couldn't possibly be friends with somebody whose ego was larger than the Pacific Ocean…Then again, I was friends with Ryu-kun, wasn't I?

I sighed as I went over to the window. The curtains were open because I loved the light flooding into my room. I had even asked Kaien if he could put me in the brightest room the Moon Dorms had during one of his later visits prior to moving here. The sun felt good on my skin, and the moonlight was always so enchanting.

I dug my fingers under the slide, lifting the window upwards to let the breeze in. I was happy to find that this action had calmed me a little so I stood there for a moment in my little serene bubble. For a while I forgot about the Night Class. For a while I was Kurosaki Kai, the sole heir to the Kurosaki bloodline and the girl that never gave a damn about what kind of trouble she was in.

The girl that laughed in the face of danger.

Only for a while though, because the wind brought me back to reality. I was still standing by the third story window, I was still in my room, I was still in the Moon Dorms and as such I was still the 'perfect student'.

My eyes wandered to the ground longingly. It had been a while since I had time to myself. No, let me rephrase that: it _had_ been a while since I had time to be myself.

It was a snap decision. In a split second my legs were dangling from the window pane as I shifted myself slowly and carefully towards the edge.

Before you can ask, no I wasn't committing suicide. I was merely jumping out of the third story window with only the ground to break my fall.

No, I was not being sarcastic.

Besides, it's not like vampires possess that kind of power, being able to commit suicide. Easily I mean. We're far less fragile than humans and we tended to have a strong will to live. Vampires are a very proud race.

And it wasn't like I was scared of jumping out of the window. If I had it my way, I would've done a running leap but I didn't have that kind of energy today. What with the stress and all.

It took me a while, but I managed to slide off the window pane and free-fall for about a second, my raven hair whipping around me. I crouched my legs as I braced for impact and I landed with soft 'thud'. Once I straightened up, I dusted myself off with a sigh of satisfaction and smirked at the Moon Dorms while doing so.

Running away would've been so easy. Kaien should've really considered my catlike grace when he put me in the Academy. These were the same legs that were able to go through a military base that hid a Level E, kill it and get back out undetected, after all.

I ran out of the Moon Dorm gates to the direction of the school. I didn't know what I was planning on doing at the time; all I knew was that I had to get as far away from the Moon Dorms as physically possible without getting out of the school grounds or getting detected by the Day Class. In the end, I found myself next to a giant cherry blossom tree with a thick trunk.

Because I was bored and didn't want to be found, I climbed up it until I was in one of the middle branches and settled myself there.

It took me about five seconds to realise that I had successfully snuck out of the Moon Dorms without any of the vampires there realising what had happened. It took me all my energy to prevent me from yelling in joy. I mean, yeah sure, I was just up a cherry blossom tree, not four hundred metres away from the Dorms themselves, but I couldn't care less. It was still a start.

With a content smile, I leant back against the main trunk, taking a piece of chocolate Pocky out of my pocket. Yes, now I could finally speak my mind without having to give a rat's behind about the consequences. In other words, I could be my normal self.

"Damn Night Class," I muttered. I had a habit of talking to myself when I was alone. It was a source of comfort to me, espcially after everything I went through. "I can't believe I had Kaien convince me and Otou-sama that I should join. If I had known there was gonna be a pureblood I would've said a flat-out 'no', but he just had to leave out that important piece of information, didn't he? Despite him knowing my hatred for the likes."

I snapped the Pocky in my teeth in half. "And that Aido is certainly a strange individual. What's with him anyway? So cocky and big-headed, thinking he can smooth talk his way out of any situation. I swear that one day when I have an anti-vampire weapon in my hand…" I trailed off on that thought, thinking of the many drastic ways I'd be able to make the baka shut up. "Takuma, however, is a different story. He's so warm and friendly and there's not one second when he doesn't smile. He's just like this giant Care Bear that I just wanna cuddle. His optimism is so contagious, he makes me believe that I can be myself…without disgracing my family name."

I shook my head at that thought. I couldn't let thoughts like that contaminate my mind.

"Shiki-sempai is a weird character," I said thoughtfully, grabbing another stick of Pocky. "He's so blasé about everything that I doubt he'd do anything if Hollows were attacking the earth simultaneously and there were no Soul Reapers to save us. He'd probably shrug it off and go to sleep."

After a while I stopped thinking as I reached my hand out. It was a sunny day so the bright white sphere of light in my hand didn't take too long to form in it. The action itself was a force of habit; I usually did that without knowing. As I gazed at the sphere I then began to wonder what kind of powers the people in the Night Class would possess.

"Takuma-sempai…I guess he'd have some kind of growing power. Like growing plants. I mean, the image of Takuma planting roses and stuff in his garden and then using his power to make them grow instantly feels right. He just seems like that kind of a person." A smile crept onto my lips as I thought of Takuma with pink gloves and an apron, holding a watering can and talking to plants. Soon the image became so ridiculous that a giggle escaped my lips.

"What about Aido, though?" I wondered, still smiling as I was twirling my hair between my fingers. "If 'annoying people to the point of insanity' were a power, he'd totally take the cake. But…I need to be practical." I reached for another Pocky and placed it in my mouth thoughtfully. "Maybe he has super speed, I mean isn't it always the annoying good-looking guy that possesses that kind of power in those movies?"

A picture of Aido in red spandex popped in my mind and I couldn't control hysterical laughter that I produced.

"Kai-sama, is that you?"

The sound of somebody else's voice took me by surprise. So much so that I fell off the branch that I was sitting on, landing with a graceful 'thud' on the floor.

"Owwww," I muttered, standing up.

The sound of a gasp made me perk my head up to the sight of Yuuki standing there with a horrified look on her face. "Ah, Kai-sama, gommenasai for having you fall out of the tree. Please forgive me!" she said, bowing repetitively.

I laughed lightly despite everything. "It's okay."

Yuuki looked at me with her huge brown eyes. "But you fell and you could be hurt and-" then the obvious struck her. "Why are you here! You're not supposed to be outside the Moon Dorm so early!"

"I could ask you the same thing," I retaliated. "I mean, you're a prefect. You should set an example."

Her eyes widened. "You're a prefect too! And I'm here because Kaien asked me to do something for him."

"Oh."

Yuuki looked at me expectantly and eventually I sighed in defeat. "I'm hiding from the Night Class," I confessed.

"What? Why?" she asked in astonishment.

"Nobody seems to like me here," I said, a little disgruntled at this.

"What do you mean, Kai-chan? Zero and I like you."

I raised my eyebrow, giving Yuuki my 'Seriously?' look.

"Well, okay Zero doesn't like you, but he likes you better than the rest of the Night Class," she said.

I chuckled. "Really? What makes you so sure?"

"Er," Yuuki scratched the back of her head, deep in thought. I left her to her own thoughts and waited patiently.

"I got it!"

"Well?"

"Well, he's only ever mentioned killing you once. That's a start right?"

I rolled my eyes at her. Oh yeah, because that's reassuring.

"I think I should be going," I finally said, but just as I was about to walk away, the brunette held me back.

"Wait. Kaien sent me to get you. I think he wants to tell you something," she said.

I groaned, but allowed Yuuki to drag me towards his office. She chatted animatedly about school and stuff, not that I cared. I was just wondering what Kaien could possibly want.

Finally we got to his office and Yuuki knocked on the door lightly. "Chairman? It's Yuuki, I have Kai-chan with me."

"Come in," I heard his voice say.

I opened the door and walked in, only realising then that Yuuki was gone which meant that he wanted to see me in private. That seemed to make everything worse.

Kaien was sitting by his desk, his chin propped on the knuckles, looking as serious as Otou-sama did when he wanted to reprimand me. Ah hell.

"Afternoon, Cross-san," I said. I needed to be formal, somehow this situation didn't scream social gathering.

"Kurosaki-sama, please take a seat," he said gravely, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.

Kurosaki-sama. Ouch. He didn't call either of us that since he first met us all those years ago. Now I knew was in real deep crap.

I placed my posterior on the designated chair and waited for him to continue. It took him a while before he finally spoke again. "First things first, I think you should know that I asked the Night Class to watch over you last night."

So that was why I had the feeling of being watched during class, Kaien had asked them to watch over me. So they probably didn't think of me as strange. Thank the gods.

Wait, why was he still so serious?

Oh crap, did Aido tell him about yesterday?

"I must say that I'm really disappointed in you," he continued.

My heart beat faster and my breath quickened as I panicked. Anxiety was such a human emotion, but I couldn't control my reaction.

"Never in my life have I heard of you act in such a way. The Night Class said that you were the most kind and respectful person they had ever met."

"I know I messed up, Kaien, it's just - wait…what?" I asked in surprise as I realised what he had just said.

Sighing, Otou-sama's best friend stood up and the light flashed off his glasses. My eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen.

He was gonna go through one of his…episodes.

He began with his arm in the air, his hand in a fist and I knew I had to brace myself. "I created the Night Class for one reason and one reason only, to be able to have vampires and humans co-exist! And you, Kai," he pointed dramatically at me, "you are living proof that my pacifism isn't in vain. You are proof that my work isn't pointless. You see, Kai, I have a dream," and by now tears were forming from his eyes as he looked into the distance in determination, "I have a dream where humans and vampires will live together peacefully and, Kai-chain, together we can say 'yes we can'!"

"Umm, Kaien. Did you just quote Martin Luther King Junior and Barack Obama?" I asked gingerly.

"…That's not the point," he said. By now he had mellowed down, still standing.

"Then, if I may ask Kaien, what was the point?"

The Chairman adjusted his glasses in a very Kyoya-like manner before responding. "What I'm saying Kai, is that I put you in the Night Class because you alone are able to be with humans without any problems. And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that your human-like nature will make the Night Class more used to them, and to you."

He came over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder in a paternal way. I wasn't surprised though, I saw him as my second-father from time to time.

"But above all, if anything, your father would have wanted you to be nothing less than yourself."

I wrung my fingers as I bit my lip. "What if the Night Class-"

"Forget about the Night Class for a second, Kai-chan," he said. "What do you want?"

"To please Otou-sama," I replied automatically.

He smiled. "So to please him, why don't you act like you should? You said you wanted to represent your family well, right? What better way to represent than to be yourself?"

I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to answer. All he'd do was twist my answers anyway, there wasn't any point in trying.

"Just promise me you'll try," he pleaded. "If you want to, then afterwards you can go back to your 'act'."

I nodded.

"Good!" he said happily, pirouetting away from me like the animated person he was. "Now be gone! I have some issues regarding the school that I must address now. Oh, and remember that I want you to come over for dinner with Yuuki, Zero and I on Friday night."

"But, Kaien-"

"Please, don't argue. There's simply no time for me to talk right now," he said as he skipped next to me and proceeded to open the door in front of me.

"But I-"

"Bye, bye!" he sang, and the door clicked shut in my face.

It took me a while to realise what had just occurred. Kaien had just asked me to be myself, saying that it would be good for my family which, in my opinion, could actually be bad. I exhaled slowly as I walked away from the office feeling slightly guilty. Not because I had lied to Kaien - hell, I lie to him all the time - but because I felt like I would be letting him down.

But I needed to focus, and now that I had more than enough time away from the Night Class, I had to go back to the Moon Dorms and get some rest.

I made my way back, the breeze blowing slightly and keeping me calm. The sun shown gently on my skin as I walked and hummed to the same Justin Timberlake song as I did earlier that day.

By the time I had gotten into the front hall of the Dorms I had gotten so into the song that I was sort of wiggling my hips and singing softly.

_"Don't be so quick to walk away  
__Dance with me  
__I wanna rock your body  
__Please stay  
__Dance with me  
__You don't have to admit you wanna play  
__Dance with me  
__Just let me rock you  
__Till the break of day  
__Dance with me"_

By now I was literally dancing and singing in a fully blown concert-like performance, adding a few thrusts and crazy dance moves here and there.

If only I had remembered that this was a dorm full of vampires.

"Kurosaki-san?"

My head whipped around, my JT groove totally diminished as I found myself face to face (well, face to chest more accurately, but we're not going into my vertically-challenged nature) with wine red eyes and dishevelled brunette hair. Great, it was the pureblood. Just my frikkin' luck.

"Kuran-sama," I said, bowing slightly. "Gomen, I didn't realise that you were behind me."

"That's because it wasn't my intention to let you know I was in the same room. You seemed rather...busy."

"Well, uh, yeah I was just making my way upstairs to my room," I explained, pointing to the approximate location of my room.

"Before you do that," he said, "I just want to know what you were doing outside of the Dorm."

Crap. "What do you mean, Kuran-sama?"

"You jumped out of the window," he replied frankly.

The fact that vampires had incredibly sensitive hearing had completely slipped my mind.

My eyes lifted towards his in determination. "Kaien had asked to see me."

"So you jumped out of the window?"

Okay, so it wasn't the reason at the time, but why the hell should he know that? "I find jumping out of windows to be more convenient. I get where I want to go faster."

He gave me an intense gaze. "Kai-sama, what were the two of you talking about?"

I smiled warmly. "I'm kind of tired, you don't mind if we pick up the conversation later?"

"I like to know what happens in this school," he replied. "Kaien had asked me to take care of the Night Class, and you're part of that responsibility."

I nearly groaned at this in frustration. He wasn't going to give this up and I was already more than a little pissed. In fact, I could already feel my mask beginning to wane. "I just wanna go upstairs. That is all I ask of you."

He remained as expressionless as ever. "If you were to just tell me, then you would be on your way…unless you're hiding something."

"I've had a rough day," I said, feigning a yawn. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kai-san-"

I could practically hear the 'crack' in my mind. "Goddammit, could you just shut up and leave me the hell alone!"

A flash of surprise crossed the pureblood's face, but then he quickly recovered. "Listen-"

"No you listen!" I snapped. "I've been busting my ass trying to be the 'perfect student' for the past few days and you're all up in my personal space demanding stuff off me. You should just learn to back off, Kaname!"

I was aware of the lack of honorific, but I couldn't care less at the time. Once I started on one of my 'tantrums' I went on until I let off steam. According to Otou-sama, the longest outburst I ever had lasted for two whole hours.

"I am sick and tired of this shit!" I yelled in frustration.

I heard a bunch of footsteps rushing down the stairs and I turned to see a flash of beautiful blue eyes locking with mine. Great, the mighty Aido had come to save the day. Whoop-dee-frikkin'-doo.

I had expected him to go to Kaname's side so nothing could prepare me for what happened next. Aido had placed his hand on the wall and soon ice began to form, making its way down the stairs and towards me. Before I knew it, it had crept up my legs and to my upper body, leaving me free to move only my face.

"Hanabusa, you cowardly bastard," I muttered as I tried to shift around. "Damn you, icing me over like this."

"Are you okay, Kuran-sama?" he asked.

I couldn't believe my ears. I was frikkin' iced over and he was asking the pureblood if he was okay? Hmph, 'let's be friends' my ass.

I watched him as he descended the stairs, watching me closely for some kind of reaction. If only I was free, I swear he would've been fried to a crisp with the light energy I would've harnessed.

"Well, this is most interesting," the pureblood said.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to spit at him. How ladylike, Otou-sama would be so proud of my manners.

"Kai-san, please control yourself," Aido pleaded.

I bared my fangs in a snarl. "Oh I'll show you control, just as soon as I get outta here."

Another set of footsteps came down the stairs and after a few seconds I saw the other head of beautiful blonde hair make its way over to Kaname. I felt so appreciated.

"Kai-chan?" he asked in surprise.

And Ichijou. Great, why not bring the whole Senate while you're at it?

I tried to move again, but to no avail. "Damn you, Aido," I said poisonously.

He looked scared as hell. Good, let the bastard suffer.

"Let her go, Aido," Kaname finally said.

His sapphire eyes widened in surprise. "But-"

"Do it."

Aido reluctantly made the ice contract until there was nothing left. I rubbed my arms, trying to get the numb feeling out of them. "One day, I swear Aido when we're in a dark alley…" I left the threat to hang.

He backed away slowly, still frightened of me. I couldn't care less about him anyway.

"Kai…?"

I glared at Takuma's direction, but he wasn't looking at me in fright like Aido, instead he had a sort of…compassionate look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Immediately I felt my body relax and I calmed down at the sound of his voice. "I…guess I'll live."

A smile played his lips. "You know, I had a hunch you were hiding something the moment I met you. You seemed too perfect to be a Kurosaki."

"…I'll try taking that as a compliment."

He chuckled a bit. "So this is what you've been hiding, all this time? Your very nature?"

I shrugged and scratched the back of my head. Suddenly this all felt kind of embarrassing to talk about. "Yeah, I guess I thought you guys wouldn't accept me."

"Did we really seem so shallow?" he asked.

My eyes flickered towards Aido who was now hiding behind a very annoyed-looking pureblood and Takuma laughed. "Don't mind Aido, he's a special case."

"Hey!" he said.

I laughed too. "I suppose I was a little wrong in thinking that you wouldn't be accepting of me." I paused for a second as I considered everything Kaien had told me earlier. "I'll be myself, you know, if none of you try to kill me."

I didn't need to mention Aido for everyone to know I was talking about him.

"I'm so sorry, Kuran-sama," I said to the pureblood. "I snapped. I shouldn't have."

His sad eyes had a hint of amusement in them. "Don't worry. I just wanted to see how you would react to the situation."

My mouth dropped. That…that sneaky bastard.

"Seeing how the results turned out, I think I'm right in saying the Night Class has just gotten a bit more interesting."

And with that, the pureblood left, leaving me with the two blondes who were just as dumbstruck as I was at this turn of events.

"Well then," Takuma finally said, "I guess it's official, Kai-chan."

I looked at him in confusion. "What is?"

"You're a fully-fledged member of our clan!" he said in cheerfulness. "Congrats. I'd love to see how you fit into this family."

I was surprised to hear him say the word 'family', but I was happy he had used it. It made me feel like I belonged somewhere.

"It's like the Ouran High School Host Club," I realised. "How Tamaki refers to the hosts as his family."

Aido had a clueless look on his face, but Takuma's smile broadened as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Yeah, it's exactly like that."

For the first time since I had arrived, I finally felt at peace and for the first time since Okaa-sama died, I felt like I belonged. I was a vampire. A strange vampire, yes, but a vampire all the same.

* * *

**Okay, that's it for chapter 3. Sorry again for the late update.**

**Coriana, my beta, thank you for correcting my errors. You're, like, crazy awesome.**

**Kai: Hey, where's Zero?**

**Oh, that's right! I found this on my bed earlier today on my bed. *reads* "Dear Penguin, your sister's kidnapped me, from Zero"**

**Kai:o.O penguin? You only decide to show this to us now?**

**It's not like he said he needed help. It's Zero we're talking about.**

**Aido: And he's been kidnapped by your sister.**

**...*major processing in progress. Realization in 3, 2, 1...* OH NOES! DX ZERORIN-CHAN HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY MY EVIL LIL SIS!**

**Takuma: don't panic, we'll have to rescue him.**

**YES! Team anime squad, GO!**

**Kai: really?**

**^^ We need a name since we're rescung Zero**

**Aido: I rate we just split up**

**Kai: I agree.**

**Fine...minna, while we're looking for Zero, you review and wait for my next update. There's still a lot more to Kai's story. Plus we'll keep you posted on Zero's kidnapping.**

**iwuvpenuins101 is out. PEACE**


	4. Chapter IV: Plummet

**Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm sorry for the late update, it's been hectic :(**

**Anyway, since you're all dedicated Zero fangirls, Team Anime Squad went out to look for him!**

**Aido: We found him in her sister's room locked in a closet.**

**Say hello Zero-chan! ^^**

**Zero: *sweatdrops* ….chan?**

**:3 Yes! ANYWAY THANK YOU REVIEWERS!**

**Zero: what reviewers?**

**Kai: *smacks him on the head* God, Zero! This girl saved your life and this is how you repay her? At least show her a little appreciation!**

**Thank you Kai-chan! *glomps* Anywhoozer, in honour of his return, Zero should do the disclaimer.**

**Zero:…..I don't think I want to.**

**DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Zero: No effing way.**

**Fine, be that way! KANAME! COME DO THE DISCLAIMER FOR PENGUIN-CHAN!**

**Kaname: *appears out of nowhere* iwuvpenguins101 does not own VK in any shape or form. All she does own is her OC, Kai.**

**BELIEVE IT!**

**Warnings: Kai gets a little, uh…worked up in this chapter. So expect a bit of swearing. THOU HAST BEEN WARNED *piercing glare at readers***

**All the characters: *sweat drop***

***Random sparkles* OKAY MINNA-SAN! REMEMBER TO R&R!**

**Kai: …does she suffer from multiple personality disorder?**

**Enjoy and dare to be different :)**

* * *

**Chapter IV: Plummet**

It had been a few weeks since I had first arrived at the Night Class. It was Saturday evening and as such there were no lessons for me to attend, but that didn't mean I was free that night on account of the fact that I had a part-time job that I had to focus on.

I really hated being in the Disciplinary Committee.

There was nothing for me to do. There was absolutely no excitement whatsoever and if by some miracle something did happen it was the annoying Day Class girls taking 'forbidden' pictures of the Night Class. To make matters even more ridiculous, when I caught them out, their high-pitched squeals of anger would scrape at my eardrums with their accusations:

"Kai-san, you think you're better than all of us, don't you?"

"You're trying to keep the Night Class to yourself!"

"Aido-sempai would never fall in love with you. You're not even that pretty."

Thank you, Kaien. I've always liked it when my life is a living hell.

I just didn't understand it though. Did they honestly think that they had a chance with someone like Aido? The only reason why he flirted with them was because he was a big-headed, egotistical jerk…who also so happened to be my friend.

Yeah, I know. Even I'm surprised.

But it's true. Aido Hanabusa, despite everything that happened (i.e. threatening to kill him in a dark alley), became a highly unlikely friend. He and Takuma both took a strange liking to me. Although, to be honest, I'm pretty certain that I got to be Takuma's friend because we both love our manga. We discuss the matters of Bleach, Death Note and Code Geass regularly, and were always engaging in intelligent conversation. I remember one of these pretty well actually…

...

_-Second week of being in the Night Class-_

...

I had dumped my Death Note manga on my friend's bed as he was reading something else and cleared my throat loudly. His green eyes had locked with my aquamarine ones as I pointed at it.

"We have important matters to discuss," I said in a business-y tone of voice.

He seemed kind of confused as I placed myself on his bed without invitation. "It's essential that I know your opinion on the matter, Sempai."

"What is it Kai-san?" he asked, probably a bit curious to know what strange things would come out of my mouth this time.

"Are you Team Light or Team L?"

He blinked twice at this, all the more confused. "Excuse me?"

I pointed at Death Note again. "Light or L, pick."

Takuma laughed when he finally got what I was trying to explain. "You're talking about the characters."

I nodded briskly, completely and utterly impatient. "Light or L?"

"Definitely L," he said without hesitation.

"How come?"

He shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? L's the good guy."

My eyebrow lifted in curiosity. "Who are you to say that Light isn't?"

"Well, he kills people for his own personal gain. I'm pretty sure that's evil."

I shifted my position so I was now facing him directly as I gazed at him intently. "See, that's where you're wrong. Light kills criminals; he's purifying the earth of that exact thing."

"But in doing so, he's committing a crime himself," Takuma pointed out.

I placed my chin in my hand. "That's true…although he's one person compared to countless others. In my opinion he was doing the world a favour."

Takuma seemed taken aback. "Kai…you support Light's reasoning?"

With a heavy sigh, I lay on his bed and placed my hands behind my head as I stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, I do. In fact…if I were in possession of the Death Note, I'd use it the same way."

"But even you've done a lot of bad things in your life, you've said so yourself," Takuma said.

I waved him off. "Those are minor things. I'm talking about the big stuff, you know, like rape, murder, bank robberies, drug dealing, human trafficking and all that other jazz."

Takuma remained quiet before speaking up again. "But Light manipulated a lot of people into doing what he wanted."

I scoffed. "You can't get anywhere in life without taking advantage of a situation. When Light saw an opportunity he grabbed it with both hands." I paused as I threaded my fingers through my black hair in a thoughtful silence. "In truth, I wish I could be more like him."

"He killed people," Takuma emphasised.

"So? Don't act as if we don't," I snapped. "In case you haven't realised, Sempai, we're vampires. We kill people 'for our own personal gain'. Exactly how you see Light."

He said nothing at this as he stared down at the manga. His sudden silence made me feel a bit bad about what I had said so I sighed again and attempted to liven up the situation. "Besides, I could never be on L's side. His seriousness might just rub off on me."

At that, Takuma cracked a smile. "We can't let that happen."

...

_-present_-

...

That conversation was the first of many meaningless debates about various anime and manga, mostly us discussing our favourite characters. The last one we had was about which Saiyan was better: Goku or Vegeta. Ryu and I often had that argument, me always siding with Vegeta. Takuma, of course being the 'goody-goody', thought that Goku was much better since he didn't have one bad bone in his body. My argument was that it was that very reason why he wasn't as awesome as Vegeta, he was just too soft. You just couldn't make it in this world if you were too soft.

"But Goku always wins," he had pointed out to me.

I rolled my eyes at that one and retaliated by reminding him that Dragonball was an anime, and not real life. In this world, cold hearts and manipulative minds prevailed and as a result of this, one had to be strong and stable to be able to make it anywhere. In this world just because you're nice, it doesn't prevent you from being murdered in cold blood.

I learnt that the hard way.

I shook my head at that thought. No, I couldn't be thinking about that time. I needed to move on in life.

I carried on walking through the gardens in Cross Academy, still more than a little bored. What I would do for some excitement for once. Back home with Ryu-kun there was never a dull moment, he always thought of something for us to do. It was great because he knew I wanted to get my mind off things, especially after what happened all those years ago…

"Ryu-kun," I muttered with a soft sigh. He was my best friend from childhood, though a couple of 'vampire years' older than me he never minded my company. I suppose since our parents knew each other quite well we grew to like each other.

I stopped to gaze at the stars. They seemed especially bright tonight since the moon wasn't there, they twinkled cheerfully at me and I couldn't help but gaze in wonder. Yes, I knew they were giant balls of gas in the sky millions of light-years away, but it was as if they were right above my head. That I could just reach my hand up and stroke one of them…

But that's just some mushy stuff that you couldn't care less about, am I right?

Anyway, remembering Ryu-kun's reaction to my leaving him for Cross Academy was a bit painful for me. He accepted it without complaint, saying that it would be completely selfish of him if he tried to stop me.

Right, because he doesn't have a selfish bone in his body. Ryu-kun was such a confusing bastard.

Why did he choose then to be all selfless? It only made me feel worse having to leave him alone. Where was that snide remark, the dispassionate 'I don't care'? It would've been even better if he had decided to ignore me completely, but no, Ryuuzaki Kusanagi had to be all altruistic and make me feel guilty.

He probably didn't realise it, but in being selfless he was being extremely selfish.

Wait, did I just contradict myself?

I suppose I did, but he probably acted all selfless to see me suffer. It was totally like him. Ryuuzaki and his frikkin' mixed messages.

_Snap!_

I turned around and unsheathed the anti-vampire dagger in one fast, fluid movement as I scanned the area for the source of the sound.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" I called. It was kind of stupid in retrospect, like a vampire would actually give away their position just because I told them to. One of the reasons why my logic is somewhat questionable.

When nothing happened, I was incredibly tempted to leave it alone. Yeah right. Bored, remember?

Sheesh, keep up with me.

Anyway, when nothing happened, my natural sense of curiosity (the same of which that has gotten me in trouble countless amounts of times) led me to backtrack to find out where it was coming from.

"You better come out! I'm armed and can practically sniff you out," I carried on, as I looked around.

To be honest, the wind was blowing away from me so it made it considerably harder to smell anything. But it's not like I was gonna let them know that.

"…Quiet."

My head turned to the direction of the voice, which so happened to be just above me. I groaned as I realised that it was just a couple of hopeful Day Class girls just waiting to catch a glimpse of the Night Class. Talk about an anti-frikken-climax.

With a heavy sigh, I sheathed my dagger and kicked the branch to make the tree shudder, just so the two girls would know they were caught out.

"It's Kurosaki-san," one of them gasped.

"Don't worry, it's not like she can hear us," the other replied. "I'm sure she'll go away eventually."

With a roll of my eyes, I was severely tempted to kick the tree enough to send a tremor to make them fall out. Then I remembered that Kaien probably wouldn't be okay if a couple of his students had…acquired a broken rib or two on my account.

Not for the first time since my arrival, I was thinking of how much easier it was back at home.

Now, I had one of two options. "Numero Uno: stay here and yell at them. Numero Dos: climb up and give them a scare," I said under my breath to no one in particular.

You don't need two brain cells to figure out which one I went for. I loosened my muscles and joints as I looked up the tree with a smirk. Then I crept behind it and commenced climbing up, practically quaking in anticipation.

It's times like this that being stealthy as hell came in handy. All that sneaking up on Ryu-kun had finally paid off. Who knew?

In no time at all, I was creeping behind them, listening to their conversation.

"Oh, how great would it be if we could take a picture of Shiki-sempai!" one squealed, but was shushed by the other blonde one.

"Not so loud," she whispered. "Besides, who cares about him? I've got my eyes on that Kaname-san."

The first one crossed her arms. "You're forgetting that Yuuki has him all to herself."

"It's because she's a Prefect and is allowed to be near them," the blonde replied haughtily. "Just because she's the Chairman's daughter, she thinks she's so much better than us."

I was intrigued by this. Mind you, I wasn't one for gossip, but to hear that this was how the girls thought of Yuuki was kind of surprising. Yuuki might not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but she was an incredibly nice person, not to mention naïve. Her brain wouldn't be able to concoct something as diabolical as that. She was too nice (and, admittedly didn't have the smarts) to be that kind of person.

"But I guess you're right," the blonde went on. "I suppose I'll have to settle for that Aido guy. He's incredibly handsome."

The first nodded, then her head tilted enquiringly. "What do you think of that new girl?"

"Kurosaki-sempai?" the blonde asked. "To be honest, I don't think of her much. She isn't much of a threat; her height is a definite disadvantage for her."

I was fuming. What was up with everyone and my height? So I was a little different, so what? Did that prevent me from killing Level E's regularly? No.

"Plus, she looks so young," the blonde continued. "I doubt the Night Class would want to go out with a baby."

I rolled my eyes at this. My height and my looks. It's always my height and my looks, wasn't it?

At this point I was fed up so I tapped the back of the blonde's head in annoyance, when she looked back I smirked. "Actually, most people think that something as cute as I am is quite the catch."

The blonde was so surprised that she moved back, completely forgetting that she was on top of a branch. She shouted in panic as she began to fall from the tree and I quickly grabbed her by the wrist to prevent her from falling to the ground.

"You're so heavy," I muttered as I tried to pull her up. "What the hell do they feed you people nowadays?"

"Can you pull her up?" her friend asked anxiously.

"I don't know, I probably could, you know, if she stopped moving!" I said meaningfully at the squirming girl.

"Let go of me!" she shouted.

"And have you break your neck?" I scoffed. "I may look young, but I'm not stupid."

She stopped moving abruptly as she looked up at me with brown eyes. "How much did you hear?"

I chuckled. "More than enough, trust me."

"Please don't tell Kaname about where his missing underwear is," she begged.

"Of course I wouldn't - wait, what?" I asked in disgust. "Ewww, that's just, no!" How could Yuuki and Zero slip up enough to let this girl in the Moon Dorms? The thought of her keeping… "You don't do stuff like that."

"I was kidding."

I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "Even so, don't say stuff like that. It's just not normal."

The girl chuckled dryly. "Looks like I gave you a scare there."

"You damn straight," I muttered with a shudder.

With this action, I loosened my grip on the girl and she hung on as tightly as she could on the little bit of my hand that she could grab.

"Don't let go!" she begged.

"Funny, just two seconds ago you told me not to keep you up," I said with a snort. "Just hold on as tightly as you can."

"It's not like I have much of a choice," she muttered.

I rolled my eyes at the girl. "Hey, it's not like I like holding your wrist for dear life. In case you haven't realised, you're in a life threatening situation, and I'm saving your ass. So all I'm asking is a bit of appreciation on your part."

"I wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for you!" she retaliated. "This is all your fault."

I was taken aback. "My fault?"

"You appeared out of nowhere!"

"You were the one that jumped out of a tree!"

"Yeah, because you appeared out of nowhere," she repeated in frustration.

God, how I hated this crap. Don't get me wrong, I loved humans, but for the love of all things red this girl was annoying.

"At this rate, Zero would've been a lot better," the blonde huffed.

"Yeah, well, Zero isn't here right now," I pointed out. "Sorry you had to settle for me saving your life."

"Uh…guys?"

"Some saviour you are," the girl said spat, completely ignoring her friend. "Arguing with the damsel in distress."

"…Guys?"

"…The hell? You frikkin started it," I said.

"Guys!"

"What?" we both asked in annoyance.

The girl looked surprised and blushed as she realised that all of the attention was suddenly on her. "Do you, uh, do you hear that?"

The blonde gave a confused look. "Hear what?"

I strained my ears to find the sound the shy girl was referring to. It didn't take me long, it was sort of a low moaning sound like wood being put under immense stress and pressure…

[How Kai's brain works: tree branch +3 girls =…

Major processing in progress…

Realisation in 3…2…1]

"Holy shit," I muttered, and on cue the branch began to shudder under us. I had completely disregarded the possibility that the branch would break under our weight.

I held on to the blonde as tight as I could and extended my arm to the other girl. She looked confused and anxious, so I decided to fill in the gaps for her.

"Take my hand," I said as calmly as I could.

She took it without objection and I pulled her closer to me as the branch began to give way. I was about to jump off when my foot decided to be an idiot and slipped. For a nanosecond I was free falling, but then an immense pain shot up my right shoulder as I stopped. Wincing, I looked up to see the poor brunette still on the dangerous branch trying to hold both of us up. I ignored the pain for a moment; it would sort itself out later anyway, so I could talk to her.

"Hey!" I called.

She looked strained, her face crunched up in concentration so she wouldn't drop us. "What?"

"I want you to listen to me carefully," I said as calmly as I could. "I want you to let go."

"Are you frikkin' mental?" she yelled. "You'll get hurt!"

"If you stay on that branch you guys will die," I shouted. "Let go."

She shook her head stubbornly.

"Listen to me, goddammit," I shouted. "That branch is gonna give way any second now."

"Nuriko…" the girl said.

So the blonde was called Nuriko…well then, that's a piece of information I doubted I'd ever use in my entire life.

"Just do as she says," the blonde - I'm sorry, Nuriko said.

"But-"

"Dammit, Aoi, the Chairman made her a Prefect and we need to listen to the Prefects, remember?" she interrupted. "This could save our lives."

The girl looked conflicted as she looked at both of us and at the groaning branch. Then she closed her eyes and very slowly she let go of it, making us all plummet to the ground. But then, because I was luck's bitch, the branch snapped about a split second after and was just above us. Thinking quickly, I pushed Aoi out of the way with my good arm and made sure I landed on top of Nuriko to shield her from the giant chunk of wood coming our way. I breathed in deeply and braced myself and just then the branch landed on my back and a huge pain shot through me.

"Ow…" I whimpered, though admittedly I censored what would've come out of my mouth.

The pain was excruciating. Though vampires never got hurt easily, this was obviously an exception. The only thing that kept me together was knowing that I would heal soon enough.

Eventually, the branch rolled off me, but I was still on top of Nuriko, my head buried in her neck as I was breathing haggardly and with difficulty. Then, because, again, I was luck's frikkin' bitch, a powerful scent threw me off completely.

"Nuriko," I said between breaths.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You're bleeding, aren't you?" I accused, closing my eyes in pain.

She paused as if hesitating before stating. "I'm not the only one."

I groaned as I tried to get up, but my arms gave way and I landed back on top of her.

"You okay?" she asked delicately.

"Great. Just fan-fucking-tastic," I muttered. "Because falling, not jumping, mind you, falling two stories with a dislocated shoulder then making sure I land on top of you so your bones don't shatter and then getting a giant tree branch to fall on top of me is the greatest fucking experience I've ever had in my fucking life."

Hmm, maybe hanging around Ryu-kun for the best part of my childhood wasn't a good idea.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

I sighed. "A bit too late for sorry, dont'cha think?"

She remained quiet for a while, and I could feel the pain on my ribs and shoulder beginning to fade away. About frikkin time too.

"Okay, you're bleeding," I stated. "That's not good, especially since I'm bleeding too. So I need to get up and take you two to see the school nurse and then take you to Kaien to have your punishment. Sound decent?"

Nuriko's eyes widened in surprise. "What? A punishment? But…"

"If you guys had just stuck to the rules, I wouldn't have about a bazillion broken bones, you wouldn't have a gaping hole in your chest, your friend wouldn't be knocked out and that poor tree would still have its branch," I pointed out. "Not to mention it's going to take me forever to heal."

The girl nodded meekly. "I understand."

I smiled as I tried to stand up. "That's good. Now if I could just-"

And then I heard a gun cocking against my head. I turned my head, with much difficulty, to come face to face with cold, hard, lavender eyes. Oh, and a white gun.

Damn, I was totally luck's bitch today, wasn't I?

"Zero-san…" I said sweetly. "'Sup? Wuzzap? What's happenin'?"

He carried on giving me his signature cold stare.

"No? Okay then, I won't try to be hip," I muttered.

"Get off her."

I sighed as I rolled off Nuriko. "'Hey Kai-san, how're you today? You okay, you know, since you fell out of a tree and had a branch land on top of you? You need any help?' 'No, of course I'm fine Zero-san, thanks for asking.' See, that's how it would sound like if you cared."

"Don't try to fool me, I know what you were doing," he said, never breaking his gaze.

"Trying to save a life? Finally, somebody that recognises my heroics," I muttered.

He frowned. Well, like frowned more. "Don't play dumb. You were drinking her blood, weren't you?"

I was so astounded at this that I scoffed. "What? Sucking her…who do you think you're talking to?"

"A vampire."

I opened my mouth to shoot a retort, but thought better as I realised what he said was true. "Touché. But I didn't do anything."

Nuriko looked at the both of us. "Um, Zero-san, much as I don't like Kurosaki-san, I have to say that she never did anything except save both our asses."

And the sinner has seen the Light. Hallelujah!

By now the pain was bearable so I picked myself up and stretched. With a sigh, I put my hand on my back and then looked at it to see my blood all over it.

"That's gonna be a lot of blood I'm going to have to replace," I muttered. "Hey Zero-san! Looks like I'm drinking tonight." When I looked at him, he looked angrier than ever, if that was possible, and I chuckled. "Just a little joke there, you know, 'cause I'm a vampire and I drink-"

"I get it," he snapped.

"Just trying to liven up the mood," I mumbled. Seriously, this guy was too serious for his own good.

Nuriko got up as well, if not a bit dizzily, clutching her head in pain. "I've got a killer headache. I swear if this is how a hangover feels like then I want no part of it." Then looked at me. "You know, I'm not sure if I heard correctly, maybe my brain was playing tricks on me, but did I just hear you say something about being a vampire."

I nodded bluntly, despite the ultimate rule of the Vampire Code (apart from 'Thou shalt not murder a pureblood').

Nuriko laughed dryly. "Well then, I guess it's safe to say that I'm officially delusional."

I didn't say anything to that. I say if somebody thinks they're going crazy, who am I to stop them from thinking that way?

I sauntered over to an unconscious Aoi, still sore from the giant branch, then knelt down to take her pulse.

"She's alive," I called. "Luckily I got her out of the way in time otherwise she never would've made it. Her heart's beating and the blood's pumping through those veins. You know, that red stuff that we drink and-"

"We know," Zero said.

I glanced back at him in annoyance. "Every party needs a pooper, that's why they invited you."

He scowled back at me. "We need to get these two out of here before the Night Class finds out what's going on."

"Ahem," I cleared my throat.

Zero looked really annoyed at me at this point. "The rest of the Night Class."

"See, it isn't hard to acknowledge some people," I said with a roll of my eyes. "You get blondie over there; I've got Captain Bashful over here."

For a while Zero said nothing and I got the most insane thought. Was the Almighty Kiryuu Zero doing the unthinkable? Was he actually hesitating?

"I think I'll take Aoi, you probably won't be able to carry her," he muttered.

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm more than capable of carrying Aoi-san. Vampire strength, remember?"

"You just fell out of a tree," he pointed out.

I frowned at him. There was no way he was trying to be nice to me. I doubted the word was even in his vocabulary, so I couldn't help but wonder if there was an ulterior motive to this.

"Fine, but you're gonna get Kuran-sama to erase their memories," I agreed.

"You're a member of Night Class, why don't you do it yourself," he replied as he passed by me to pick up Aoi bridal style.

It took me a while for me to answer. After all, I couldn't exactly say 'I hate purebloods', because that means there was cause for suspicion.

"Kaname and I haven't exactly…hit it off."

Understatement of the century, anyone?

"It'd be better for both of us if you just went," Zero said icily.

I crossed my arms stubbornly and, admittedly, childishly. "I don't wanna."

"Could you stop acting like a child for five minutes?" he asked in irritation.

I snorted, despite my knowing Otou-sama probably wouldn't be impressed with my manners lately. "You're the one to talk. I believe your very first words you had ever spoken to me were, 'I didn't think Kaien would admit children into the school.'" I paused for a while as I realised something. "Why are you even out here anyway? It's my shift."

"I would never trust a vampire," he said bluntly.

I chuckled. "Wow, I'd love to know what would happen if you turned into one. With the hatred you're oozing, you'd probably be suicidal."

He said nothing at this as he carried on walking with Aoi. I smirked as I went to Nuriko and offered myself as a crutch for support.

What surprised me was the fact that Zero supposedly 'would never trust a vampire' and he left me with Nuriko who was gushing out a bloodbath.

Aw, it was good to know that there was a little heart beating in my Zero-kun's chest. I'm so proud of him.

"Nice and easy there, Nuriko," I said gently.

She smiled softly. "Kurosaki-sempai –"

"Call me Kai," I responded.

"I never got the chance to apologise for saying all the mean things I said," she continued wearily. "I mean yes, you're not that good-looking and no boy from the Night Class would ever look at you and you're so short and young looking that people would mistake you for a character from Pokémon, and your hair isn't all that great –"

"Is there a 'but' somewhere in that speech of yours?" I asked in annoyance.

She paused for a second. "I completely forgot about that. I kinda got carried away."

Boy, if it weren't for Otou-sama I would've strangled that chick.

"But you're incredibly brave, I mean you risked your…afterlife I guess?" she said thoughtfully. "I just want you to know that even though all those mean things I've ever said about you were true, that I think you're an okay chick."

I sighed. It wasn't much of an apology, but hey, it was all I was gonna get, right? "Apology accepted. Now come on, there's a pain killer and a hospital bed with your name on it."

That night, I couldn't help but think it a shame that Nuriko and Aoi had their memories wiped about what I was. I was quite sure that we could've really hit it off, maybe have become, dare I say it, bff's?

Yeah right, this is me we're talking about, remember?

So, that night wasn't as bad as I had initially thought it was going to be. I saved a couple of lives and probably irritated Zero a lot more than usual, which was highly amusing. I even got the chance to make fun of being a vampire. Things like that are practically unheard of for me.

I walked into the Moon Dorms which were, unsurprisingly, unlit. Not that I minded, I was vampire after all. I needed to get to Kuran-sama and tell him everything that had happened since Zero was obviously not going to do anything about the matter and would probably get Kaien on his side. I wasn't backing down because I wanted to though. No, I had already gone through too much that night for me to have the strength to argue. Besides, I lost a lot of blood and I wasn't joking when I said I was going to be drinking. Okay maybe I was, but there was truth to those words. Blood that was lost needed to be replaced, it was just how everything worked.

I dragged myself into the lounging area laboriously. Most of my wounds were healed, but the hole in my back was taking forever and I was exhausted. Even vampires needed their beauty sleep every now and then.

After a few minutes I dumped myself onto the couch, not caring if the blood got everywhere. I was just completely annoyed at the tree for hurting me so badly. The only thing that would've been worse was if I was stabbed with one of my daggers.

"I should work on my letter of resignation," I muttered to myself.

"Kai?"

I looked up to see who had called me, finding that it was the blonde demon that had grabbed my attention.

I shut my eyes in frustration. Why couldn't it have been Takuma?

"Nani?" Aido asked in surprise and I clamped my mouth shut in a panic.

I…hadn't just said that out loud, did I?

Whatever the answer was, I would never know because just then the blonde angel did make an appearance. He was probably on his way to the kitchen and I couldn't help but smile at his cute casual clothing. I hardly ever got to see Takuma or Aido without their school uniforms because I practically lived in my room.

He had stopped abruptly when he had seen me on the couch and I watched in amusement as his eyes widened in surprise. "Kai-chan?"

"Hey Sempai," I said as strongly as I could with a little wave.

He walked over to me to take a better look. "What happened?"

It was weird how Takuma and Aido contrasted. I mean despite them both being blonde, they were so different. As soon as Aido saw me, he showed the utmost nonchalance to my injuries, completely disregarding them, but with Takuma he showed his concern and made sure I was all right. They balanced each other out perfectly. I didn't like everybody to be fussing over me, but I like to feel the least bit wanted from time to time.

"We fell out of a tree," I said bluntly, answering Takuma's question. "The branch we were hanging on snapped and I had to protect them from being hit."

Aido looked slightly confused. "Who is 'we'?"

I sighed as I forced myself to sit up on the sofa, which really wasn't that great for my injuries. "The Day Class girls, they were disobeying orders and stuff so I had to get up the tree, but then the one girl fell so I had to grab her and the branch began to shake and I fell off too and the other girl grabbed my hand. The branch began to give way so I told her to jump off which she did, but it was too late it was already falling above us, so I pushed her out of the way and then placed myself in front of the first girl to make sure the branch fell on me. I think one of the sub-branches jutted out in my direction because only that would explain the hole in my back, plus I've been losing blood. All in all, a normal day for me."

The two boys gave me the most skeptical looks, not believing that I could be so laid back about what had happened, but I can't say that I cared. Their very presence was beginning to annoy me to no end. "I'm exhausted, and I'm supposed to get Kuran to wipe their memories, you don't mind getting him for me, do you Takuma-sempai?"

He seemed quite surprised at this, but he didn't argue. I loved that about him. He was a genuinely nice person and always looked out for me.

"Sure, I'll go."

I smiled softly at him. "If I wasn't in mortal danger from my injuries, I could hug you."

"Anything to help out, Kai-chan." His ever-constant smile broadened, and I couldn't help but giggle a little at his optimism.

Aido looked at me in surprise, obviously not used to the concept of a giggling Kai. I couldn't say I blamed him though, I hardly ever laugh. It's quite the rare occasion when I do it in front of people, the only ones actually ever seeing me do so being Otou-sama, Ryu-kun and Okaa-sama, not that she counted anymore on the account that she...left.

Yeah, let's just say 'left'.

My giggles were short-lived as a spike of pain came rushing up my side and I hissed at the feeling. "Ah, it hurts to laugh."

"You should go to your room," Takuma said comfortingly. "I'll bring up some blood tablets as soon as I can, though I don't think they'll do much."

They both knew of my preferred way of drinking especially after the argument I had with them a few weeks ago, which happens to be a story for a later date. "Nah, I'm fine with the tablets," I reassured. "Granted, the wound won't heal as quickly, but it will suffice."

I couldn't help but notice how smart I sounded in that sentence.

"I'll bring them up for her," Aido offered. "You need to go to Kuran-sama, remember?"

"You sure you won't break a nail or something?" I joked.

Aido ignored my comment as he picked me up bridal style. "I'll take you to bed."

"Oh, bedtime with Aido-kun, my favourite," I said, sticking my tongue out of him.

Looking back on that day, I wonder whether the injuries made me go insane. That would be the only explanation for my playful nature around them.

"Kai-chan, behave yourself while I'm gone, 'kay?" Takuma asked.

I tensed up at the sound of his words, clenching my fists in anxiety.

They way he said it...it was almost exactly how she did.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter 4 done! **

**Coriana, my beautiful beta, you're amazing! I've literally gone over the majority of what you pointed out and made sure I made corrections. Alas, there were some things I simply couldn't do, but **_**se la vie**_**, I suppose.**

**Aido: Thank you for reading!**

**I feel so happy I could sing a song. *Clears throat* I'm bringing sexy back! These other penguins don't know how to act-**

**Kai: Excuse me?**

**:( What?**

**Kai: **_**You**_** brought sexy back?**

**Of course I did XD**

**Kai: If anybody brought sexy back, it was me.**

**Zero: *Rolls eyes* I cannot believe we're having this conversation.**

**I know right?**

**Aido: Besides, sexy was never gone. I was keeping it safely with me this whole time :)**

**AIDO, YOU BAKA! YOU'RE MANY THINGS BUT NOT SEXY! Besides, I'm quite sure everyone would agree that I totally take the cake *smiles (somewhat?) sexily***

**Kai: No…just no.**

**KAI-CHAN! Why're you so mean to penguin :(**

**Yuuki: ahem**

***everyone turns to look at her***

**Yuuki: I think Kaname might have brought it back.**

***glares at Yuuki* YOU VILE BEING! BEGONE! Besides, Zero is way better looking. It's all about the tsundere type characters, you know?**

**Takuma: May I suggest something?**

…**Proceed.**

**Takuma: Why don't we have a vote on it?**

**YES! THE READERS-**

**Zero: What readers?**

***Completely ignores him* -WILL DECIDE! In fact, I think that I'll post a poll on my page! We'll read out the results in the seventh chapter, just so that they have a chance to vote.**

**Kai: So, leave a review or whatever, and vote on the poll on who you think brought sexy back. You should also leave a review or a PM stating exactly **_**why**_** you chose that person. The best reason will be mentioned.**

**So, whaddaya waitin' for? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! And vote for who you think brought sexy back!**

**Penguin and the VK crew are out. PEACE :)**


	5. Chapter V: Guilt

**Hello, minna-san :3**

**It's Penguin with another much anticipated update of the ever so popular fic-**

**Zero: *cough, cough***

***ignores* Vampire Light!**

**Now, I was reading through the first four chapters and realised how god-awfully _slow_ the story is! I'm so sorry for leaving you all in suspense, just know that THIS is the chapter where everything starts to happen. _This_ is where it all begins! MWAHAHAHA!**

**Oh, and the results of the poll are at the bottom :)**

**Zero: What took the update so long this time?**

**^^" exams. But they end on Friday soooooooo its not that big of a deal. Anywhoozer, ZERO COME AND DO THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Zero: No.**

**TT_TT I don't get the appreciation I deserve. SHIKI, COME DO THE DISCLAIMER OR NO POCKY FOR THREE DAYS!**

**Shiki: *wakes up from nap* eh? Penguin doesn't own Vampire Knight in any shape or form, the only thing she owns are the OC's**

**BELIEVE IT!**

** Kai: -_- why me?**

**Enjoy and dare to be different :)**

* * *

**Chapter V: Guilt **

"Kai, behave yourself while I'm gone, 'kay?"

The sentence repeated itself over and over in my mind. Damn Takuma, damn him to the darkest pits of hell, making me think of her like that.

_"Behave yourself while I'm gone, 'kay?"_

_"Sure thing!"_

I bit my lip at that memory. If only I had known-

"Earth to Kai-chan."

A concerned voice brought me back to reality and I blinked twice to find Yuuki-san standing in front of me while waving her hand in my face. I shook my head vigorously as if to snap myself out of my trance. "Sorry, guess I zoned out there."

"Did you get everything on the list?" she asked, still looking somewhat concerned but if she noticed anything, she didn't say so.

I looked down at the piece of paper for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. "I couldn't find any leeks."

"What?" she asked in confusion. "How's that possible?"

I shrugged in reply. How a Japanese market didn't have any leeks was beyond me.

Yuuki sighed as she placed the plastic down. "Well, we can't stay here forever. Chairman will have to do without them."

I gave her a determined look. "I'm sorry. Did you just imply that we simply have to just 'give up'?"

The brunette nodded, somewhat wary of me at this point.

"Well, let me tell you something Cross Yuuki." My eyes narrowed to slits as I gave her my most intimidating look. "The words 'give up' put together in that order are not in my vocabulary. Now pull up your socks, tighten that thong and if you were Ryu-kun, I'd tell you to grab a pair."

"Wha…?"

She looked rather surprised that I had changed in practically an instant, but I was too far in to care. I was already feeling the excitement coursing through my veins from that mini-pep talk I had given her and, hell, I would've gone on if it weren't for the fact that we were running out of time.

"We're pressed for time. If this pathetic shop doesn't have anything, well we'll simply have to advance through the city." I picked up the plastic that she had put down from fatigue and slung it over my shoulder. "Zero-san might not be here – and I assure you he will be in a world of hell when I confront him later – but that doesn't mean that we can stand here like pathetic tramps with no clue what they want to do with their lives."

"Yes ma'am!" Yuuki said with a salute.

I smiled as I grabbed her by the wrist. "It's great to have someone that can cooperate. Now, we just need to find a store with leeks. Let's split up."

Yuuki tore her wrist out of my grasp and looked at me in astonishment. "S…split up?"

I nodded, completely unfazed by her reaction. "We will cover more ground. The more ground we cover, the quicker we'll be done, and the quicker we're done, the quicker we get back, and the quicker we get back, the quicker I can kick Zero's ass for ditching us like this."

"But I don't -"

"You should head east," I suggested, ignoring her protests. "I'll go west." I dug around in my bag and took out a couple of walkie-talkies. "If one of us finds something, we'll tell the other and report back here before sundown. Sound good?"

Yuuki looked like she was about to protest, but I took her by the shoulders and steered her in the opposite direction. "You'll be fine. One of these markets has to have leeks, right?" I said, giving her gentle push.

"R-right," she managed to splutter.

I made sure she had walked away before I turned around to go the other way. I shook my head in annoyance. Just what was up with Yuuki was beyond me. She was certainly strange.

Only after a few moments did I realise how busy the street was. Tall people were everywhere trying to get to where they wanted to hastily and I furrowed my eyebrow in confusion. Humans were always in a hurry, it was one of the few things I failed to understand about their species.

"Sorry, short person coming through," I said as I shoved my way through the crowd. It was amazing how nobody ever paid attention to the little black-haired girl with aquamarine eyes.

Damn my miniscule body structure.

It was packed in the little town probably because it was a Saturday and it took me a few minutes to realise that I should've gone down east of the city. It didn't look as packed. If only I had known beforehand, I wouldn't be in this god-awful mess.

"I swear the next time I see Zero-san, he's gonna be in a world of pain," I muttered to myself as I avoided an oncoming man with a cell phone pressed against his ear, only to dodge a woman practically running with bags of shopping and then almost tripping over a stray dog that was lying exhausted (I did not want to think of it as dead) on the street.

I frowned and cursed under my breath only to catch myself. "Oh God, am I becoming a short, female version of Zero-san?" I asked worriedly.

In my panic, someone bumped into me with such force that I nearly toppled over. "Damn it, can't you look where you're going?" I snapped as I rubbed my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. I'd forgotten midgets like you existed," came the reply.

I froze for a second when I heard the tone of his voice. There was no mistaking who it belonged to, yet I found it difficult to actually believe he was here. My head lifted and I gazed at a young man, no older than nineteen, with Hitachiin amber eyes and bright red hair.

"Kai-chan," he said affectionately as he gave me a bear hug.

I was flabbergasted at first, completely dumbstruck, but when I finally figured out how to work my body again, I hugged him back. "Ryu-kun. It's been way too long."

He loosened his grip on me, but didn't let me go. "You have no idea how boring it is without you around."

I sighed into his chest, but then realised something and growled in annoyance. I stepped out of his hug, lifted my palm and slapped him hard across the cheek. He staggered back in surprise, obviously not expecting that to happen.

"…The fuck was that for?"

"Two and a half months, Ryu-kun, and not once did you call," I said menacingly. "Do you know just what exactly I've been through? I was on the verge of near insanity."

"I'm sorry, but last time I checked, you didn't have a phone!" he said back.

"Why didn't you just call Kaien!"

"Like I know his number!"

I stopped as I realised he had a valid point. "Oh…sorry."

He chuckled. "Once a baka, always a baka, eh, Kai-chan?"

"Shut up," I snapped. I hated losing arguments to him; it was always a degrading experience that I never appreciated.

He only laughed at me as he ruffled my hair. "I see you haven't grown a millimetre since I last saw you. Dare I say it; I think you might've shrunk."

I rolled my eyes at him and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "And I see your immaturity hasn't changed either."

He raised an eyebrow, "I always thought you said I was the more mature one out of the two of us."

"That doesn't mean you're mature," I pointed out as I stuck my tongue out at him.

He decided not to argue with me and change the subject. "Why are you out here anyways? I don't think Haru-sama would appreciate you bunking school."

"It's Saturday," I said with a shrug. "And Kaien sent Yuuki-san and I on some errands. We're actually supposed to be looking for leeks, but the local grocer ran out."

"Ah," he said in understanding. "And I guess you're probably wondering what I'm doing two-and-a-half hours away from home?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, would you be surprised if I told you that there is no way in hell I'm gonna tell you?" he asked as he placed his hands behind his head.

I frowned at him in annoyance, though I knew the answer. "Honestly? No. Though, why you're not gonna tell me is what's bugging me."

"I'm not gonna tell you because, knowing you, you'd probably skip out on your errand to join me," he replied with a smile.

That only made me want to know even more.

"You and your freaking mind games," I said under my breath. "But I'm not falling for it. You're just saying that so I can pester you into telling me."

"Am I?" he asked with a mischievous tone of voice.

I refused to answer the question as I grabbed onto his wrist as firmly as I could. "Come on, I know the greatest place that sells the best coffee."

"I thought you were-"

I waved him off. "Don't worry, Yuuki's got it covered."

I began tugging him through the crowd, though navigating through it was a lot easier because I was with Ryu and people tended to…evade someone like him as much as they could. I've never really understood why humans would do such a thing since he's the nicest (cough, cough) person I know. But a long time ago I figured that it was because he normally dressed up like some dodgy member of a biker gang, and people usually associated them with trouble for some reason.

It didn't take me long to find the shop. It looked sort of run down from the front, with the sign missing a few kanji. It was meant to read 'Itazuramono', though why anyone would want to name a coffee shop that was beyond me. It was also in desperate need of a lick of paint, and the pipes around it were rusty which, all in all, made the place look kind of dodgy, which was perfect for me.

I opened the door and I heard a little jingling noise above me as I went in. It was quite dim inside which gave the whole place even more of a strange feel to it. I walked over to the main counter to find a somewhat overweight man wiping what looked like a beer cup. Ryu was obviously unfazed by the look of the surroundings being the person that he was, and sat down on the nearest chair.

"Eh?" the man said through his cigar and I ignored the potency of the smoke. "Aren't you a little young to be somewhere like this place?"

"It's a coffee shop," I stated as I swiveled childishly on my bar stool. "I don't get why you make the whole place all dreary and crappy looking, even though the coffee here is amazing."

"Like I have any business with someone like you," he said in annoyance and he placed the cup in the cupboard, only to take out another one that apparently needed polishing as well.

I sighed as I put my elbows on the counter. "I know the owner, you know. A certain Kuroyama Miaki?"

He paused and frowned. "What about her?"

"She's out of the country, right? Been so for a long time," I replied with a yawn. "Used to come up to our place when I was a kid, always made me and Otou-sama some damn good coffee. Told us about this place, too. Said how proud she was of it." I paused as I looked around the place, then with a heavy sigh, I continued. "She told me that she wanted me to come over some time, tell her if I liked it."

It was true that I knew the owner. She and Otou-sama were really good friends and her coffee was incredible. I had come down here the week before to check it out myself, but didn't dare go inside because I was afraid that I might've had the wrong address.

The barman sighed as he put down the cloth and glass. "Look, business 'round here's been kinda slow lately. Don't get much customers like we used to, not since them murders started couple years back."

That sparked my interest. "Murders?"

He shrugged. "Nothin' a child like yerself should worry 'bout. It was the reason I asked 'bout yer age. Kiddies like you ain't supposed to be roamin' around these parts unprotected." The man picked up the glass and the cloth again. "Then again, whether you get killed or not ain't none of my business, is it now?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I decided to be smart with him. "Yeah, I mean it should, shouldn't it?"

He grunted, as if waving me off completely, not saying anything else.

"I mean, if the police find out that this was my last location, that makes you the prime suspect doesn't it?" I carried on, tracing my fingers along the counter.

He stopped polishing again and gave me a vicious look. "You gonna order or am I gonna have to drive you out with a gun?"

I rolled my eyes. Obviously he wasn't going to delve any deeper into the murders. "I want a cappuccino, my friend back there," I jutted my chin at Ryu who was gazing out of the window, "would like the same. Both should be black."

The barman's eyebrow lifted. "You sure you're allowed to drink coffee?" His tone of voice screamed skepticism and I couldn't help but groan in irritation. Behind me, I heard Ryu let out a snort of laughter and I turned to glare at his absurdity. The bastard knew how sensitive I was about that subject.

"I'll have you know that I'm seventeen," I said. In vampire years anyway, I added mentally.

The brute chuckled as he put down the cloth and glass. "Sure, and I'm a ninja."

My frown deepened as I heard my supposed best friend's contained chuckle turn into a full blown fit of hysterics.

"But hey, it's not my problem," he continued. "Quite frankly I couldn't care less."

"Thanks," I replied, though it was completely insincere. I pushed myself off the barstool to go over to Ryu and sat down on the chair across from him. Believe it or not, the baka was still laughing and he didn't even have the decency to try and hide it.

"I am this close to castrating you with a rusty knife," I threatened with a scowl.

The threat worked its magic and, although he didn't stop laughing completely, his hysteria reduced to an occasional chuckle.

I folded my arms in a huff and looked out of the window. It took a full five minutes for Ryu to realise what I was doing and sighed heavily as he touched my hand.

"Aw, Kai-chan. Don't be like that…" he said. "I didn't mean to laugh."

"Shunning," I let out in a long breath and he groaned in frustration.

"Come on," he said childishly. "Can I please see you smile again? Pretty please with, like, a gazillion cherries on top?"

I chanced a glance back at him and saw that he was giving me the most irresistible, adorable 'puppy-dog' face. I couldn't say no to it and he knew it.

"If you stop acting like a baka, maybe," I said in a low voice.

He cracked a grin and despite myself I found that in return, my own lips crept up.

"Ah, there's the Kai-chan I know and love!" he said brightly.

I couldn't help but giggle a little as I shoved him out of my face. "Okay, okay!" I said lightly. "Fine, you win. Happy?"

He didn't say anything, but I knew he was. My smile never faltered as the barman-type guy came with the coffee and placed it on the table.

"So, how's the school?" Ryu asked, stirring a sachet of sweetener into his cup.

I shrugged. "You know, exactly as you would imagine any school. Boring as hell. You can't do a damn thing for yourself. 'Don't be out of the Dorm in the day, don't talk to the Day Class, drinking of blood is strictly prohibited' blah-the-frikken-blah." My rant was stopped when I saw his look of concern. "What?"

"I just never thought they'd be able to make a cage strong enough to contain you. Clearly I was wrong." He crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you're going soft on me now, Kurosaki."

The way the tone of his voice changed, you'd think he was a mafia boss. "Are you kidding me? The word isn't even in my vocab," I reassured. "It's just…Otou-sama expects so much from me. I don't want to let him down. Not after…" I trailed off as I glanced out of the window again. "To him, my life must be just a string of disappointments."

I heard my friend let out an exasperated sigh and I turned my attention back to him.

He was shaking his head in disbelief. "Kai, we've been through this already. What happened was an accident."

"But it never would've happened if it weren't for my foolishness," I practically yelled. "And now…"

He took my hands and forced me to look at him. "Listen, stop feeling sorry for yourself. That never gets you anywhere."

"But -"

"I said listen, and don't you dare try to interrupt," he said harshly.

My mouth clamped shut. When he got like this, there was no way of getting him to be reasonable. It was like he was bipolar.

"After what happened, do you remember what I said?" he asked but when I nodded, he went on anyway. "I said that feeling guilty never got anyone anywhere, so you should just suck it the hell up and grow a pair. It's been six fucking years, Kai-chan, that's more than enough time."

I was about to protest when I heard the sound of static and someone calling my name. I looked down at my belt to find that it was the walkie-talkie which I had completely forgotten had existed.

Good, it was Yuuki. Hopefully she found the damn leeks.

"Kai-sama? Are you there?"

"Yep, did you find-"

"Kai-sama, oh thank…you picked…"

I couldn't make out what she was saying because the static was terrible, but there was a sense of urgency in her voice. "Yuuki-sempai, what's wrong?"

"I don't…I ran…he caught up…"

She was being chased. "Who, Sempai?"

"…Level…Artemis…can't go on…"

Only then did I realise the urgency of the situation and I sprung up, startling Ryu. "Sempai, tell me where you are right now!"

"…I can't…downtown…like a church…"

That was all I needed to know. I grabbed a couple of bank notes from my pocket and threw them on the table while grabbing Ryu's wrist. "We need to leave."

"But we just got here," he whined.

"Don't give me any of your bull," I yelled as I ran out of the coffee shop, dragging him with me.

"Could you at least tell me what's going on?"

"Yuuki's been attacked by a Level E, and the idiot left her Artemis rod at the Academy," I said as I unsheathed my daggers.

It took him a while before he could say anything. "Well, I didn't figure finding it would be this easy."

I looked at him as we were running. "What?"

"That's the reason why I'm here," he explained. "I heard of a Level E being in this area and thought I'd check it out."

"You were Vampire Hunting and you didn't bother to tell me?" I yelled. "What the fuck is up with that!"

"Because I knew you would drop whatever it was you were doing," he replied steadily and took out his black guns.

I could only stare at him in bewilderment.

"Anyway, looks like things turned out for the better, huh?" he asked.

"All I know is that you're definitely on the list of people I'm going to castrate, right below Zero-san," I muttered as we took a left.

Running through the crowd was difficult as hell. It was incredibly thick and we didn't want to bump into anybody. Despite this, we pressed on until we found a break in the ground, and then we went down a deserted road.

"Where did she say she was?" he asked.

"At a church," I replied. "If I'm right it should be down this road."

It took us a while, but we found what looked like a cathedral and I looked up around in desperation. Soon I caught sight of a brunette making her way into it being pursued by what I assumed to be the vampire. She looked like she was hurt, too.

"Yuuki-sempai!" I yelled at her. She turned her head and when her eyes rested on me she gave a grateful smile.

"Kai-sama!"

I ran toward her and Ryu followed, already positioning his guns as Yuuki ran into the building. I did the same with my daggers.

"You ready?" I asked as I saw the Level E go inside as well.

He snorted. "Come on, this is a life and death situation that's threatening our very lives. I was born ready."

I opened the door and had to squint so my eyes could adjust with the dark, which didn't take long obviously because, well, vampire remember?

I spotted Yuuki on the floor, trying to hide behind the pedestal and the Level E looking for her. After a couple more seconds, my eyes widened as I saw the gaping hole in her hip.

"Ryu-kun!" I yelled, but he was already on it and ran by her side.

I went for the Level E before he could reach her and rammed him into one of the many arches. The force was strong enough to make a crack in it and he directed his attention to me.

"You made a big mistake," he snarled.

He was a new Level E, so he still had some sanity left. That would just make killing him harder, but then again, would it be fun any other way?

"Ryu-kun? Status report," I demanded.

"She's losing blood fast," he yelled in reply. "We need to get her out of here quick."

I glared at the vampire. "What the hell did you do to her? I swear, if you put one hand on Sempai, I'm going to-"

"What? Kill me?" he asked. "Aren't you gonna do that to me anyway?"

"What happened to her?"

He shrugged in reply and gave me a disgusting smirk. This set me off so much that I ran for him with my dagger at the ready.

What I wasn't expecting was for him to trip me up and make me drop my weapons so I had to use my hands to protect myself from the fall. When I reached out to grab them again, he kicked them under one of the chairs and dragged me up by the throat.

"You are pathetic," he sneered. "You're a vampire, you possess the power to kill and yet you hunt down your own kind."

I kicked him in the gut, and he let go of me. My daggers were far from me now, so I went into a fighting stance.

"Kai, we don't have much time," Ryu warned.

"Just give me a minute," I said and then attacked the Level E.

I wasn't expecting for him to dodge every attack with ease. Each punch I threw at him was always missed.

"Hold the fuck still!" I said in frustration, but instead of holding still with the next punch I threw at him he caught my fist and gave me another smirk before punching me in the gut with his free hand.

I fell to the ground in pain and could just barely hear Ryu shout my name as he tried to come over but I shook my head saying he needed to stay with Yuuki until she was safe.

"Humph, Vampire Hunter my ass," the Level E said and kicked me on the side.

I bit my lip to prevent myself from yelling in pain. I couldn't understand how he was so strong.

That was when I heard a gunshot and I glanced up to see that the Level E was clutching its arm. Blood began to dripping from it, but it wasn't enough to kill him.

He hissed in pain. "Damn you."

I tried all I could to stand up, but my injuries hadn't healed yet. "Ryu, take another shot!"

"I can't!" he yelled back. "He's moving too much, and I don't want to hurt you either." He paused for a while before stating, "I can throw you one of my guns and you can-"

"No!"

He looked taken aback by the harsh tone of my voice, but at the same time he wasn't surprised. "We need you to do this. Your daggers are out of reach and we're out of options."

I sighed in defeat as I tried to drag myself up. It took me a while, but I finally stood and held my arms out so he could throw it at me. Within this time, the Level E was almost out of the church and I knew that once it was out, the chances of me getting the chance to destroy it were very slim.

Ryu threw me one of his black pistols and I caught it with ease. Then, with one fast and fluid movement, I turned and pointed the gun at the retreating Level E.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know I was trembling with the weapon in my hand.

Yes, that's right. Not shaking. Trembling.

My heart rate increased and it took me all of my strength to calm down the nerves that were coursing through my body right now. To block out the memory that came with this exact gun, but as usual, it was incredibly difficult.

_"Kai-chan! Shoot!"_

_"But he's -!"_

_"They'll get away if you don't!"_

_Bam!_

My eyes were watering, but I refused to let the tears fall from that memory. I needed to focus, I needed to aim and I needed to fire this gun and send this son of a mother to Kingdom Come.

"Kai-chan, what are you waiting for?" Ryu asked in desperation.

I closed my eyes. He knew why I detested guns. He knew why I couldn't hold one without feeling this way, and yet he threw it to me.

But I needed to do this. I needed to focus, and then I could kick his ass for it later.

I opened my eyes and looked at the vampire. Then, slowly, I brought up the gun and took aim.

Bam!

The sound was deafening and I had to wince away from the noise for a split second. Once I found focus again, I looked in the direction of the Level E, waiting to see a body lying limp on the floor.

That feeling I had right then was probably the second strongest sense of self-inflicted despair I had felt in my entire existence.

He was gone.

The Level E had escaped, and…I was the reason why he was still roaming the streets. In my shock, I had dropped Ryu's gun and fell silently to my knees.

Not again. The gun, I couldn't…Otou-sama…

I punched the ground repetitively. "Son of motherfucking bitch!" I yelled, pronouncing each word with each punch. "He got away, I couldn't…"

"Kai-chan?" a voice said from behind me.

I looked up to see Ryu looking at me. Yuuki was in his arms, knocked out. I noticed that he had torn his shirt and bound the wound using the material. "Are you okay?"

I averted my gaze, ashamed for him to be seeing me like this. "We should get Yuuki-sempai back," I muttered as I stood up. I went over to the place where my daggers were kicked under and reached to grab them, taking care that I held them by the hilt.

"You didn't answer my question," he pressed as I sheathed them in their hilts. "You look like shit."

"That's because I feel like shit," I snapped. "This is completely and utterly insane. If I hadn't let my guard down, this place would be short of at least one Level E. I don't…I hate failing a mission, official or otherwise."

He didn't say anything so I went off to the doors and opened them so we could leave. "The Academy isn't far from here. Needless to say we won't be able to get Kaien's leeks today."

"Kai-" Ryu began, but I cut him off with a glare.

We walked in silence back to the Academy. It was tense and uncomfortable, but I refused to talk and Ryu didn't want to say anything to set me off. It wasn't long until the giant Academy gates were in front of us, and I opened them. They creaked a little but not enough for someone who wasn't paying attention to hear.

I led Ryu through the gardens, following the path. Soon I heard the familiar sound of the fountain which told me I was close to the buildings and I took a left towards the Chairman's office. It was like my body didn't belong to me anymore, like someone else had taken control of my movements – up the stairs, through the halls, past the doors – so I was almost surprised to find myself at Kaien's door.

I rapped my knuckles against it twice and heard his voice telling me to enter.

"Kaien-san?" I asked, looking inside. He was going through some documents at the time, at that point I wondered if he ever did anything in there.

"Kai-chan!" he said happily when he noticed that it was me at the door. His joy fell when he saw the expression on my face. "What's wrong?"

Ryu walked in at that moment, of course carrying Yuuki. The blonde's eyes widened to about twice their size and demanded to know what had happened to his 'precious daughter'. In a rush, I told him what had happened and he said nothing for a while when I had finished.

The silence was deafening.

"Kaien-san…I'm so sorry that I couldn't do anything to protect her," I apologised. "It was all my fault. I take full responsibility for my actions."

The Chairman sighed and sat down at his chair. "It's not like you knew that there was a Level E running around."

"But I needed to be more cautious," I said. "I should never have left her by herself."

He knew that there was no way I was going to shake off the feeling of guilt, so instead of arguing he gave me his 'this conversation isn't over' look. "If you could send for Kiryuu and Kuran-sama, that would be great."

I bowed and left, but not before giving Ryu a brief smile to show him I was alright.

Once I got out of there, I went straight to the Moon Dorms to tell Kuran he was needed. No doubt I would encounter Zero along the way too, what with him doing my shifts when I told him I was more than capable of handling them on my own. Though, I suppose that night I felt like it was some relief.

I wasn't wrong, I found him walking through the trees when I had gotten out of the school. I walked over to him while taking in a deep breath, not wanting him to think that I was on the brink of a mental breakdown. "You're wanted at the office," I said when I faced him.

He said nothing but grunted as he left and I watched him go. Soon, a thought rushed through my mind and my eyes widened.

Oh my god, when Zero finds out he's going to kill me.

Such a weird twist of events, but I didn't want to be around when Zero was chucking rage so I ran as fast as I could to the Dorms. I was in a full blown panic so when I slammed the door open, the other vampires looked up to see me from the lounging area, their expressions mostly of surprise.

"Kaien wants to see Kaname," I let out in rush.

The pureblood was in a corner reading a book, which he now snapped shut and then left in silence. Then another thought went through my mind.

Oh hell, when Kaname hears about it…I'm totally done for.

Just then, the thought of Zero killing me was very miniscule compared to the pureblood.

"Kai-chan?" Aido asked from the sofa. "Is everything alright?"

He must've noticed the state of hysteria I was in…or, being Aido, he might've just been wondering why Kaname was called up.

Without another word I ran up the stairs as I ignored his question, slamming my door behind me. I got onto the bed and assumed a fetal position as I rocked myself to and fro rhythmically.

Yuuki got hurt…and it's all my fault.

-0O0-

After a few hours, my guilt had turned into rage and I was pounding my fist against the bed.

"Damn," I said under my breath. "Damn, damn, damn. Damn that freaking Level E to the darkest pits of hell."

"That's a little extreme, even for you."

My head turned to find my favourite red-headed partner in crime standing by the window. "How did you get in?"

He shrugged and pointed his chin toward the window. "I figured you'd lock your door, so I came up through there."

My eyes darted to the window and I sighed. Of course the idiot climbed from the outside to see if I was alright. It felt good to have someone who cared that much for me, and I cracked a ghost of a smile as I approached him. He opened his arms, expecting an embrace, but I stopped right in front of him and lifted my hand to give him an unceremonious slap across the face.

He staggered back as he rubbed his cheek in annoyance. "…The fuck was that for?"

"One does not simply climb up two floors through the window of an angry girl without expecting to be slapped across the face," I replied in annoyance, my expression turning sour. "I thought you of all people would know that by now."

"That's the second time today," he whined. "If this keeps up, you'll end up disfiguring my face."

"Trust me; I'm actually doing your face a favour." I crossed my arms and looked away from him huffily.

I heard my friend sigh. "I thought you'd be over it by now."

"Well I'm clearly not," I spat. "I let a Level E go. Who knows what'll happen?"

"You know as well as I do that sometimes we just need to let one-"

He got interrupted as my fist made contact with his face and I gave him one of my worst scowls. "Don't you dare say that we need to let one go. That's a huge load of bullshit, and you frikkin' know it."

He blocked my next punch and grabbed my wrist. "Kai-chan, if we hadn't let it go, Cross-san would've died."

"Don't act like you know her, she's a complete stranger to you," I said in a rage, but winced when he twisted my wrist painfully.

"We're supposed to protect people. That's the point of Vampire Hunting. Now stop being such a bitch and grow a pair," he said in irritation.

My eyebrows knitted together defiantly as I formed two simple words with my lips. "Bite me."

I must've set something off in him because his amber eyes filled with rage and he hurled me on the bed.

"Damn it Kai, why the hell do you have to be so stubborn?" he said in frustration as he made his way to the bed. "I'm trying to be a nice guy, climbing up the fucking wall-"

"I didn't even ask you to freaking climb the wall! Stop being such an asshole and putting everything on me!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to be an asshole if you stopped acting like a bitch."

"I wouldn't act like a bitch if you stopped acting like you're Okaa-sama."

Ryu was so surprised by this that he actually froze in place. "Excuse me?"

I clamped my mouth shut in a hurry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

But I stopped when I heard him chuckle and I looked at him in confusion. "Why are you laughing?"

He shook his head in amusement as he sat on the edge of the bed. "It's nothing. Just…you really think I'm trying to act like Mizuki-sama?"

Again, I crossed my arms and looked away. "From the way you treat me like a goddamn child, I don't think you have a right to protest."

"I'm not trying to treat you like a child."

I snorted. "Could've fooled me."

Ryu-kun looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against venturing any further into the subject. He knew as well as anyone that I was unreasonable when I got like this. "You know, Kai-chan?"

My head snapped up at the radical change of the tone of his voice. Nothing, nothing good ever came when he started talking like this. My best advice I'd give to anyone if they ever encounter him like this is to hide. Hide your wives and children. Jump the border, do something to get as much space between your ass and him as possible.

"What're you up to?" I asked and I can tell you now that I sure as hell was not looking forward to his answer.

He made no comment but just tilted his head towards the door as if listening out for something. Curious to know as to what exactly he was listening for, I was about to do the same before he practically jumped on top of me and pinned my hands to the sides.

I heaved a heavy annoyed kind of sigh. "Here we go again," I muttered.

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked in confusion.

I rolled my eyes. "You're gonna be all 'Kai-chan, I could take total advantage of you right now.' And then I'm gonna say, 'You know just as well as I do that you'd never do that.'"

Ryu-kun, still on top of me, opened his eyes in interest. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh gee, I don't know, maybe because you do this to me once every three months?" I asked sarcastically. "And even if you've never actually done this to me before, we've been friends for years and we both have the same…interests."

He paused for a second thoughtfully, taking in what I had just said. "That last point is most definitely true."

"Exactly," I agreed. "Now, I'd like to be able to use my hands again if you please, and if you don't comply within the next ten seconds, your crotch and my knee are going to have a very unpleasant introduction."

He laughed at this, knowing for a fact that I would never actually knee him. I was too nice of a person to knee my best friend. "Oh yeah?"

I looked at him squarely in the eye in determination. "Yeah."

He shrugged and smirked. "That's great, because ten seconds is more than enough time."

I looked at him in confusion and was about to ask him what he meant when the door burst open and a particular blonde, green-eyed, optimistic vampire came in with a box of chocolate flavoured pocky and a carton of milk. "Hey, Kai-chan, I just wanted to-"

He stopped dead on his tracks when he saw me and Ryu in a very compromising position and despite myself, I blushed a beautiful crimson colour.

"We're kind of in the middle of something," the red headed bastard said and then not a nanosecond later the door slammed.

My eyes widened as I realised what had just occurred and I tried to break free from my childhood friend's grasp. "Let go!"

To my surprise, he did end up letting go and I rubbed my aching wrists in irritation. "What on earth was that all about? Why didn't you deny anything? Who knows what Sempai is thinking right now?" I stopped my rant when I saw the satisfied smirk on his face.

"Son of a bitch," I breathed.

"Hm? What is it?" Ryu asked.

"You…you fucking bastard," I said in disbelief. "You planned this didn't you? You knew this would happen. That's what you were listening out for earlier."

He stretched and sighed in satisfaction. "Guilty as charged."

If I was angry before, I was pissed now. The baka didn't even hide it, in fact he seemed proud. "You fucking asshole!"

He seemed confused by my sudden violence and his smile dropped. "What now?"

"Don't you see what you've done?" I asked in frustration. "If I didn't have a good reputation before, then I sure as hell will have a shitty one now." I shot up and grabbed a vase from the dressing table. "I thought we were friends!"

He caught the vase that I had just thrown and placed it on the bed. "We are friends. Come on Kai-chan, I kid around with you all the time. I thought you knew that."

I then got a glass that I had brought up earlier on to have water in. "Baka. Putting spiders in my bed is playing. Putting pink hair dye in my hair in my shampoo is playing. Pretending you spotted a level E and then making a fool of myself in front of an entire mall of people is playing. Making it seem that I was on the verge of sleeping with you isn't!" and I threw the glass at him.

He ducked quickly and it shattered behind him. "You're thinking irrationally."

I looked around for something else to throw, but came up with nothing so I looked at him squarely in the eye. "I thought that out of the two of us, you were supposed to be the mature one."

"I thought you were supposed to be the forgiving one."

"Well then, life's just full of disappointments, isn't it?" I said sarcastically. "I can't believe you, Ryu-kun. I thought you'd want to do something, but this? Especially after everything that happened today?"

He said nothing as I sighed and walked towards the door and opened it for him. "Just…leave before I castrate you with a dagger."

Ryu left in silence and I closed the door behind him. Never, never had Ryu done something that extreme. His crimes were usually petty, and I hardly ever minded them, but now… for the first time in my entire existence, I wished I had never met that idiot.

I made my way over to my bed in a daze. I just couldn't deal with this anymore. Today was a rough day, and I thought that after seeing Ryu for so long I'd be happy, but instead I let a Level E get away, Yuuki got hurt, and Takuma was probably having incredibly conflicted thoughts about me.

He and Aido were the only ones that cared enough to actually tolerate my presence. What if, in one day, I had lost all my friends? Then who would I turn to?

"Pocky, I need pocky," I moaned as I dug through my bag. Only then did I realise that my bag was downstairs and I let out an exasperated groan. With no pocky or dairy, could I even go on?

"Otou-sama," I said under my breath as I walked to the dresser and dug around my clothes. "I really need your guidance and wise words right now."

My fingers touched something cool and hard and that's when I knew I had found it. I took out the silver bracelet with an aquamarine stone shaped like a fang. I clutched it to my chest and bit my lip. "How could he do something like this to me? My reputation was already bad enough, and then he went ahead and shattered it."

I went over to my bed and assumed the fetal position once again. I had never felt so alone, not since that day…

-0O0-

A knock came onto my door and I looked up in surprise. I had slept in my clothes because of my depression. Despite this, I didn't cry. I never cried, not anymore.

"Come in," I said softly. I didn't even care how bad my hair looked at the time, I was messed up as it is.

The door opened, but I didn't look up to see who it was. "Kai-san?"

It was obvious who it was and my face reddened in shame and embarrassment. Being courageous, I looked up to face him. "Yes, Sempai?"

He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I wanted to bring you something to eat. You haven't been downstairs in hours."

I shot up at the word 'eat'. Indeed I was hungry. "Did you bring pocky? I am in serious need of pocky. After that argument with Ryu…" I trailed off as I realised that Takuma didn't know half of what happened. "Oh, Sempai, I'm sorry you had to see that. I mean, not that there was anything to see. You see, Ryu and I didn't do anything, I swear. It's just something Ryu does every few months to make sure I'm prepared for situations like that. Even though I've told him that it wasn't necessary all those years ago because we're vampires, but he never stops."

Takuma seemed surprised. "So you didn't…?"

"No!" I yelled. "I mean, of course this time he did it for a different reason, but it wasn't like he was going to do anything. Besides…he would never do that to me."

Takuma sat down on the bed. "Because you've been friends for so long?"

I shook my head. "It's not that. Well, it is, but that's not the main reason." I wrung my fingers. "A reason that isn't for me to tell. Yes, I'm pissed off at him as hell for doing something like that…but we've been each other's rock for an eternity. If he wants to tell you, he'll tell you."

Another knock came at my door and I glanced up to see Kaien walking in. His hair was disheveled and his expression grave.

"What is it, Kaien?" I asked, immediately knowing something was wrong. Oh God, had Yuuki…?

It took him a while before he could finally answer. "We've got reports of two Level E's loose in the city."

* * *

**Oooh, a cliffie just to leave you suspense :p**

**I'm so sorry, I don't like cliffhangers much either, but I figured this story was in desperate need of one.**

**Anyway, finally we welcome Ryu to our little circle. SAY HELLO RYU-KUN!**

**Ryu: 'sup?**

**And in a completely unrelated subject, if you were wondering, _itazuramono_ means rat.**

**Thanks Coriana for putting up with me TT_TT you're like, super special awesome! BROWNIE POINTS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW WHERE THAT PHRASE IS FROM!**

**Kai: Uh, Penguin? The results of the poll so far?**

**Oo. OOOOOOHHHHH YEAAAAH! I must look at them, hold on. *puts on reading glasses as she takes out a piece of paper***

**Aido: You wear reading glasses?**

**Nope ^^ these are fake, I just wear them to look smarter.**

**Kai:…**

**Zero:…**

**Aido:…**

**Yuuki:…**

**Ryu:...**

**Haterz, all of you! Now, from what I can see here, Zero has taken the lead by three votes.**

**Zero: (:**

**Aido: And how many votes did the rest of us get?**

***takes off glasses* None. Only three people voted.**

**Kai:…Well that's bulls-!**

**Ryu: What's going on? I'm really confused.**

**Oh, well we're having a 'who brought sexy back and why?' contest type thing. The candidates are me, Zero, Kaname, Kai and Aido ^^**

**Aido: My precious fangirls, how could you just abandon me! **

**Aww, Aido. Don't worry, one person was considering you and Zero would be a tie.**

**Aido: What happened?**

**She voted for Zero instead ^^**

**Aido: Nooooooo!**

**everybody: *sweatdrop***

**OKAY! Since Aido clearly has some personal issues to sort out, we should sign out! Don't forget to vote, people! Aido and Kaname fans, are you willing to admit that Zero is sexier than your idols? If not, vote for them! **

**Kai: what about me?**

**Ryu: aw, Kai, I think you're sexy ;)**

**Kai: You're my friend, you're supposed to say stuff like that**

**Remember, the poll will be closed by the seventh chapter!**

**Zero: Which, knowing you, will be in the next millenia.**

**Kai: Always the optimist, eh Zero-kun?**

**Don't forget to place a reason for your vote! The best will be posted in one of my author's notes!**

**AND DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW! That's like super special important! If we could have a sort of review topic, that would be great! So if you could sort of focus on Ryu this time in your reviews it would be highly appreciated. ********What are your thoughts on him? Yes, he is a little random and tends******** to have like a million different personalities, but that's what I love about him. Who is he really? Is he a badass biker, or a loving childhood friend?**

******Yuuki: Time to sign out Penguin!**

******Okay, Penguin and the VK crew are out. Peace! XD**


	6. Chapter VI: Revenge

**Hellooooooooooo minna-san ^^ **

**It's me, Penguin with another update of the popular fic-**

**Zero: *coughs***

**Kai: *bonks sexy prefect on the head with a curling iron***

***ignores scuffle* Vampre Light!**

**So, the good news is I'm not dead! The bad news, I've decided to update _monthly_ since the weekly thing is obviously not working. Don't worry, Chp VII is being written along with Chp VIII so DON'T FRET MINNA!**

**On a completely unrelated note, I was watching episodes 6 and 7 of VK, and I came to this conclusion. Zero's _adorable_, Yuuki's okay and well, Kaname's a bitch ^^**

**Kaname: -_-"**

**S'tru! Admit it Kana-chan, deep down inside that cool composed exterior, you're a bitch ^^**

**Kaname: -_-"**

**I take your silence as a yes! **

**Yuuki: Who's doing the disclaimer this time, Penguin?**

**ZERO! GET 'CHO ASS OVER HERE!**

**Zero: Over my dead body.**

**TT_TT He _never_ wants to do it for me. I guess I'll have to settle for Ryu-kun.**

**Ryu: iwuvpenguins101 does not own Vampire Knight nor it's characters in any shape or form. The only things she owns is this story's plot and her OC's.**

**BELIEVE IT!**

**Kai: -_- Wrong anime, hun.**

**Now that I'm not going to be thrown in prison, here is the late chappie.**

**Btw, poll standings are at the bottom ^^**

**Enjoy, and dare to be different :)**

* * *

**Chapter VI: Revenge**

I couldn't believe my ears at this news. "Two Level E's?"

Kaien shrugged, obviously as clueless as I was about how there could be two in the same area.

"Something tells me this isn't just a coincidence."

We both looked at the Takuma who was serious looking at that time. "I know exactly what you mean," I agreed. "Only purebloods can make Level E's."

"And considering that there aren't a lot of purebloods out there to begin with, someone's creating these," Kaien concluded. "And on purpose too, seeing as the victim has to be alive when they drink their blood to create one."

My head turned to the window as I thought hard about this. "It's…almost as if this pureblood wants us to know that they're there."

"We have to have you guys kill them both," Kaien continued. "Might as well ask Ryu-kun and Zero to join since the both of them know how to hunt vampires really well."

My expression turned quizzical. "Four of us?"

Kaien nodded. "We'll need all the help we can get. I'll get them myself and explain the situation. In the meantime the two of you can go out to the front gate and wait for them there."

I got up and grabbed my daggers from the dressing table. "Come on, Sempai. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can give that Level E what he deserves."

Takuma got up lightly and we both bid farewell to the Chairman as we left.

-0O0-

Since Takuma was more trusting than me and didn't have his sword on him, we had to go to the boy's side of the dorms to get it, not that I minded. I needed time to clear my thoughts because of the previous attack, trying to figure out where I had gone wrong and then thinking of how I could avoid a similar fate.

We soon found ourselves in the room he shared with Shiki and my eyes fell upon a particular object in the room.

The bookcase.

It was Otaku heaven right there. For a while I had forgotten what we were supposed to do and gazed at it in a daze.

"You have a lot of manga up here," I said. Not that I haven't been inside his and Shiki's room, it was just that I never got used to seeing the bookcase of manga in the corner. My finger traced the spine of each book as I studied them carefully.

_Bleach, Naruto, Code Geass,_ I read. _Inuyasha, Death Note, Dragonball_ _Z_…oh hello! What's this? I picked out a book with a man's face on the cover, his eyes covered by orange goggles. "Do you think I can borrow your _Hellsing_ sometime? I haven't been able to get 'round to reading that."

I heard him chuckle from behind me. "You want to read about vampires? I thought you were against that."

"Correction: I'm against reading about sparkly vampires," I said with a huff. "Get your facts straight. I'm just surprised you have a manga as 'dark' as that one. You don't strike me as the kind of person who'd read that."

"It's intriguing," he said with a shrug. "Besides, it's never bad to see how different people perceive us, right?"

"I suppose," I said looking at the front cover. "I mean, despite my beliefs, the idea of being able to turn people into my mindless slaves sounds…well…fun."

I reached into my pocket and grabbed a pair of leather gloves and a cloth. Then I unsheathed one of my daggers and began polishing it. When Takuma noticed what I was doing, he regarded me in curious silence. Then, after a while, he finally spoke up. "Your daggers, where are they from?"

I glanced up at him. "Hm? The Vampire Hunter's Association, of course. Where else?"

He looked rather confused. "It's an anti-vampire dagger?"

"Yep," I said simply.

"And…you're able to hold it?"

I glanced at the weapon in my hand. "Well, this isn't just any anti-vampire weapon. It's custom made for me. You see, the blade is made of the anti-vampire material, but the hilt was made so that it wouldn't affect the holder. As long as I hold it there, I can't get hurt."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you're polishing it."

"The blade can be touched as long as there is some kind of 'covering' on the skin," I explained. "Basically, it doesn't do anything unless it's touching the actual skin. I have to be extremely careful with it though. I've already hurt myself at least eighty times with this thing since Ryu's mom gave it to me as a gift."

By this time the blonde had retrieved his sword. "Kusanagi's mom gave them to you?"

I shrugged as I looked at my reflection in the blade, my aquamarine eyes gazing back at me. "Some Vampire Hunters owed her a couple of favours. She was the one that trained me, you know. Well, her and Ryu-kun. They're like family to me."

Takuma remained silent as he carried on watching me polishing the blade expertly. I gazed at the blade intently as the dirt from the cathedral was wiped off, again wondering how and where I slipped up. I suppose it's better now, considering that I knew what he was capable of.

I swore there and then that I would never underestimate anyone again. Not even Level E's.

After a while, Takuma seemed to have gotten over his fascination because he finally decided to leave. "Come on," he said, leading me out of the room.

We walked through the hallway in silence, but it wasn't a tense one. Unlike the silence I had had with Ryu earlier it was a comfortable 'we're going to go kill Level E's now' kind of silence, if you know what I mean. Which you probably don't unless you hunt vampires on a daily basis.

After a while, I noticed Aido's door and I stopped on my tracks to look at it. When Takuma realised that I wasn't next to him anymore, he looked back at me. "You're not coming?"

My eyes didn't shift away from their subject. "Don't worry about me, go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Takuma looked like he had wanted to say something, but I suppose he thought better of it because he left me.

I walked up to the room and swung the door open. I didn't even bother to knock which was a very 'Kai' thing to do I suppose, not that I cared. My eyes darted around the room, looking for a specific blue-eyed blonde and I found him lying on the bed, reading something. I snorted and leaned against the door frame, waiting for something to be said.

"It's called knocking, Kai-chan, you should try it sometime," he said without looking up once.

I had wanted to ask him how he knew it was me, but the answer seemed quite obvious _"Only you would have the guts to barge into my room like no man's business."_ So instead, I settled for a very mature huff. "You of all people in this Dorm should know that I'm beyond knocking."

I heard him breathe out heavily. "That's very true."

"Let's cut the crap." My eyebrows knitted together in a sort of frown. "I'm about to leave to hunt down the Level E."

"Again?"

I sighed. "Turns out there're two out there and Kaien wants us to kill them both before they could cause any trouble. Just came here to ask your opinion on something."

"I'll only answer if I get to ask you something in return," he said.

I shrugged. "Fine, it's only fair I guess. I just wanted to ask you if you think it's just a coincidence that there're two out there."

"A coincidence..."

The room was quiet as Aido thought about it for a few moments. I stood there, watching him as I twiddled my thumbs in boredom. "If you don't mind, I'd like your answer before Christmas, Sempai."

"I don't think it is," he finally said.

I smiled. "Well, if you don't think so then I know I'm on the right track. I have a pretty vague idea of what's going on; I just need more evidence is all."

"Evidence?" Aido looked slightly surprised. "You're making this sound like a case or something."

"That's because it is." I said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And now, your question."

His sapphire eyes gazed at the ceiling as if he were thinking about how he was going to phrase the question. "Kai, you looked kind of panicky today," he started. "You never really told me what was wrong."

I couldn't help but think it a bit odd. That wasn't the type of question I'd figured he'd ask. "I thought you would've heard about what had happened by now. It's been at least four hours since then."

"I know what happened; I just want to know why you reacted that way."

By now I was beyond confusion. I mean, I thought the only reason why he had asked me what was wrong earlier was because of Kaname. Seriously, it was as if he was wrapped around the pureblood's little finger. Every day it was always 'Kaname this' or 'Kaname that', it was the one thing about him that I disliked as much as his bottomless ego.

I inhaled deeply as I stopped leaning on the door frame and sat down on Kain's bed. I didn't know if he'd mind or not, but I figured it would be okay since I was talking to his cousin.

I decided not to question Aido's concern, or crack on how he might've had some kind of ulterior motive. To be honest, I just didn't have the energy.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I muttered. Failure was not something I liked dwelling upon.

"There are lots of things the Night Class doesn't know about you, Kai-chan," he said. "And there are a lot of things about you that I don't understand. And I'm trying to understand now."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, but I smiled at him. It was an Aido attempt and, well I don't want to sound cheesy here, but that's what made it special. Right?

"Today…with the Level E…Yuuki-sempai was-"

"Sempai?" he asked skeptically. "She's younger than you, isn't she?"

I shrugged. "I look younger than her. Besides, I've never really had Sempais before and I like calling all of you guys that, is that so wrong? And anyway, you've all been here longer than I have, right?"

"I suppose I can't argue with your so-called logic," he said thoughtfully. "Continue."

"Well, Yuuki-sempai was hurt, and Ryu-kun had gone off to help her…I went to kill the Level E and…well…I fell." I wrung my fingers. "My only hope was to use Ryu's gun because the Level E had kicked my daggers out of reach. But…the memory…I couldn't shake it off. I failed my mission, I failed Ryu-kun, I failed Yuuki-sempai…I even failed myself." I closed my eyes tightly. "But worst of all…I failed Otou-sama."

Aido was obviously confused. "What does your dad have to do with anything?"

My breathing rate increased and I bit my lip as if trying to chew the memory out. "I would rather not say."

Aido seemed surprised, can't say I blame him. I usually kept a cool composure, but that day he saw the more vulnerable side of me. The side I always tried to keep hidden. It was the side of me that only Ryu-kun and Otou-sama have had the displeasure of seeing.

Despite this, I never cried. I taught myself not to a long time ago. "It's a painful memory. I never felt like I was worthy to be called his ojousan afterwards." My fist tightened as I carried on talking. "That's why I've been so determined to be able to make him proud, and that Level E will pay the ultimate price for making achieving that goal a living hell."

The silence that was undertaken was a comfortable one. Aido had listened to my rant without saying anything to upset me extremely. To be honest, I couldn't be more grateful. The fact that he cared enough to step out of his egotistical bubble to listen to me for ten minutes was more than I could've asked of him.

I was even thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could've been a sort of 'replacement' for Ryu-kun. I mean, not that you could actually replace him, but he did remind me of him in a sense. They were both stuck up, for one thing.

"I should go…" I finally said. "As much as I would like to prolong this rare chance of seeing you actually being selfless, I have a Level E I need to settle a score with."

He scoffed in disbelief. "I am selfless."

"Sure you are," I said sarcastically. "And Ryu-kun is the most modest person within a five thousand kilometre radius."

The blonde sighed, obviously knowing that arguing was no option. "You be careful out there. I wouldn't want you to die on me. We still have lot to discuss."

"We don't need to discuss anything," I said. "Like I'm going to spill out every little dirty detail about me."

He shrugged. "You never know. It might be really good for you if you talk to someone."

I smirked, any shred of vulnerability gone as I stood up. "Trust me Aido, if I'm going to talk to someone it's definitely not going to be you."

"You say that now, but I'll give you at least three weeks. Then you'll come running," he said with a wink. "I generally have that effect on girls."

I snorted. "You mean 'obsessive fan-girls'."

"Girls all the same."

I let out an annoyed-type sound. "I cannot believe that you're supposed to be a genius," I muttered as I walked away.

"We should play chess sometime," he offered. "That way I'll prove that I am one."

"Yeah, no. I already know my logic is questionable, I don't need you to rub it in," I stated bluntly. "You stick with your pawns and horses, and I'll stick to dagger throwing."

"They're called knights," he corrected.

"Oh, would you look at that. I seem to have stopped caring."

He let out a sigh, but didn't continue with his pointless argument. "Fine, whatever. Go catch that Level E."

"Oh, I'm going to do more than just catch it," I muttered.

The conversation I had with Aido lingered in my mind as I made my way to the gate. I hardly ever talked to people about my past; it was a sensitive subject for me that I preferred not to think about.

It was amazing to think how he and Takuma accepted me knowing next to nothing about me. They had no idea what I did in the past. The one thing in my life I wasn't proud of…the one thing I hoped that someday Otou-sama could forgive me for.

Someday.

It didn't take me long before I found myself on the path that led to the gate, where I knew a certain childhood friend was waiting with a certain blonde vampire and a certain silver haired vampire hunter. I practically groaned in frustration, no way did I want to face Ryu right now.

Not that I hadn't forgiven him, in fact in retrospect I suppose I may have overreacted, but I just felt like I needed some space from him. He needed to learn his place, that he couldn't screw around with me and expect me to come running back to him. I'd done that way too many times already and, well, if our friendship really meant that much to him he would realise his wrong and come and give me a proper apology.

Having him crawl on his hands and knees wouldn't do much harm either.

"Kai!" A voice interrupted me from my thoughts and I snapped back to reality and I found out that I had arrived at the gate without my knowing.

When I looked for the source of the voice, I groaned inwardly. Speak of the devil.

"Hey, Kai-chan," Ryu said happily. He was obviously expecting a grin or a hug, or even a smack across the face with a disgruntled 'baka', but at least knowing I had forgiven him and everything would be back to normal. But not this time. No, this time I did the very opposite of what I would normally do and ignored him.

Completely and utterly disregarded his presence.

I made my way over to Zero and stood by his side. "I'm assuming that Kaien asked the four of us to go out together and catch the two Level E's by splitting into teams of two." I was addressing Takuma with a business-y tone of voice.

The blonde nodded. "That's right. There's one in the east side of the city and another one up north."

"Zero-san and I will take the one in the east," I said, immediately splitting us into groups.

Ryu was obviously confused. "But Kai, we always -"

"We can report back here," I pressed on, ignoring his protests. "If one group isn't here after two hours have passed and the other is, then that group is to go straight to Kaien to ask for help. Got it?"

I didn't have to wait for a reply to know that they understood me, so I turned on my heel and headed in the general direction of the cathedral in which we last saw the Level E. Zero followed me and the other two said something about a shortcut and went the other way. The silence Zero and I walked in was tense and unnerving, but I was too annoyed at the world to speak up.

Soon, however, Zero decided to break it with a simple question. "Why'd you come with me?"

"For the benefit of the hunt."

"You and I both know that's not true."

My attempt of being impassive was, of course, a serious train smash. I couldn't help but think that maybe it was time for me to be taking tips from a certain pureblood. "You're ninety percent right about that one."

"Hn."

It didn't sound like he wanted me to elaborate, but I did anyway. "Ryu and I got into a fight earlier. I've already forgiven him, but I'm ignoring him anyway."

Zero gave me a sideways glance which I read as, 'and you're ignoring him because…?'

"Jackass had it coming for years," I muttered in reply. "Effectively, I could've gone with Takuma, but he tends to get worried about me and I couldn't risk unwanted questions to be creeping up in our conversations. Besides," I added with a shrug, "it's no secret that you hate vampires. I figured that you might as well be around one that you usually hang out with."

"We don't 'hang out,'" came the annoyed reply, and I couldn't help but manage a soft smile.

"See that's where you're wrong. How about that little meeting we had under the tree a few weeks ago?" I pointed out.

He frowned. "You fell out of a tree with a bunch of girls and I was there to make sure you didn't try anything, I highly doubt you could call it 'hanging out'."

Well, he didn't glare at me like he usually would by now. I think we were beginning to make progress so I decided to ignore his last statement completely. "You know, I really like you Zero. We're the same, you and me." Oh, now he gave me the signature glare. I suppose I spoke too soon, but I thought that I would be best to carry on. "I never really saw it at first, you know, since you're always so mean to me but I think you use it as a shell to cover up what you're really feeling."

"So what, you're a shrink now?" he asked in irritation.

I shrugged. "Perhaps. It's just that I think we're similar in the fact that I do it, too. I also have a protective shell. I use the whole tough person act to hide something else. But, shells also have a habit of weakening, don't they?"

He didn't need to respond for me to know that he was curious about what I was going to say next, so I carried on. "Well, yours falls around Yuuki."

He gave me another frown, but I brushed it aside. "Come on, don't be like that. I've seen the way you look at her. But it's okay, you know. You're very protective. You don't want to admit it, but she's like a sister to you isn't she? The same way I view Ryu as an older brother." I paused, not even looking at his expression after what I had just said as I looked into the distance. "You know, in a way I sort of see you as the older brother I never wanted to have in the first place. So, all in all, I have two brothers huh?"

Another glare, but I waved it off easily. "I know you don't see me as your sister or whatever. I'm a vampire and you want nothing more than to see me rot in the depths of hell or wherever it is we go to. But what you must know, Zero-san, is that we have a common enemy. And you know what they say, 'the enemy of my enemy is a friend', right? So, I say we put aside our differences and maybe build our relationship from that. Hell, you can already tolerate my rambling so I think that's progress."

He still said nothing at this, and I sighed. I knew for a fact that Zero wasn't very talkative, hell I was surprised I even managed to make conversation out of him all those nights ago. But I must admit that after being with Ryu-kun, Zero was a breath of fresh air.

It didn't take us long to reach the east of the city. I used my keen eyesight to look for the familiar cathedral roof. "There!" I pointed to a spot just above the roofs. "The cathedral where we last saw him. I'm quite sure he's still in that area since Ryu had shot him with his gun, so he couldn't have gotten too far."

Zero had taken out his white gun, Bloody Rose or something. "We'll go there and investigate."

"Kiryuu-san?" I asked innocently. I wasn't calling him by his first name because, well, to ask this question I had to be on his good side. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever got permission to call him by his first name. If he didn't like that, he never spoke up about it…huh. Then again, he never actually called me by name, ever. I suppose it's because we see so little of each other…or he just doesn't like me much.

"What?"

I wrung my fingers nervously, not knowing how he would answer this question. "When the opportunity arises, can I be the one that kills the Level E?"

Zero stared at me like I was being highly annoying.

"Aw, come on," I whined. "That Level E did something to me, I don't know, but I feel like I can't forgive myself unless I kill it. It messed around with me, I don't feel complete. I need to be the one that kills it. Please."

I could feel him gazing at me, but I didn't take a chance at looking back up at him. For the record, I doubted he would even say yes. "Please," I repeated. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't."

I heard him heave a heavy sigh and he still gave me that highly irritated expression, but I suppose that being polite did have rewards considering that he agreed…reluctantly, but it was Zero so I was lucky that he had agreed at all. I couldn't help but feel incredibly happy at this turn out of events, I was practically glowing. I was even starting to think that Zero wasn't even that bad of a guy, that eventually we could really become frie-

"One chance."

And just like that, the thought was completely wiped from my mind like a mop taking off spilt coke from the floor. "Wha…?"

"I'm giving you one chance," he repeated. "If you don't kill it then, I'm stepping in."

And the glow was gone too. "You're kidding."

"Did I stutter?"

I crossed my arms huffily. "That's like so unfair."

He didn't respond to that so I figured that he wasn't going to answer. And, to my frustration, I knew he wasn't going to back down from his statement. "Baka," I muttered, low enough that he couldn't hear, not that I cared anyway.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence and I used that silence to delve into my thoughts. Most of them were about school in general, like whether I should confront Ruka about the dirty looks she's been giving me since I got here Well, more like confront her _again_ considering the fact the last time didn't give me any answers.

_"Ruka-sama, do you mind telling me why you keep glaring at me? It's quite unnerving," I had said one night, a few weeks ago when we were making our way to the Moon Dorms._

_She turned to face me, giving me a piercing glare as if by will alone she could make me disappear. "First of all, it's Souen-sama to you." Her voice was steady, but you could hear the utter hatred oozing from those words._

_But I never got to hear her second point because Kaname had wanted to talk to us all in the lounge area._

I shook my head at the memory. I suppose she had a point, I mean I called her by her first name and all, but she treated it like it was the worst thing that could possibly happen to a person. Not like it's my fault anyway, I blame Ryu for being such a bad influence on me. He didn't give a damn about respect or other people's opinions, it made me wonder how we even became friends in the first place.

We finally made it to the cathedral, the moon shining subtly above it to give it that sort of…I suppose the word is ethereal? I don't know, but it had that vibe about it that screamed 'Holy Place.'

I'm a vampire and as a result I wasn't by any means a religious person, but this particular cathedral, when bathed in the moonlight, made me stare at it in awe.

"Hurry up," Zero muttered. I had slowed down in my stupor and he was getting impatient. I rolled my eyes at him as we walked up to the giant doors. They were still open from earlier in the day, which didn't surprise me considering that Ryu and I had left in a hurry.

The inside was extremely dark now that it was night, not that it bothered me. But I figured Zero would need the help considering that he was human and all, so I brought my hand up and harnessed the light energy from the moon to create a familiar blue-white orb in my hand, illuminating the inside like a sort of torch.

"This is where we last saw him," I said to Zero. "I'm quite sure that if we look hard enough we could find out where he ran off to."

The silver-haired prefect grunted in reply and I rolled my eyes at his lack of vocabulary. Guys can be so lame, I thought as I moved my hand around to scan the area. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, just that I knew I would find it when I saw it.

The light moved over the benches and down the aisle and I soon saw something reflect it. I walked towards the thing briskly and it wasn't long before I finally reached it. Surrounding it was what looked like blood which had dried and there was a sort of trail.

"Of course," I murmured with a smirk as I stared at it. "Zero-san! I found something," I called.

It didn't take long for him to reach me and he inspected what I had found. "It's a bullet," he said bluntly.

"Uh, uh, uh," I sang with a smirk. "Not just any bullet, my dear Zero-san, but the very same bullet Ryu used to shoot the Level E." I pointed to the blood. "Obviously he didn't kill him, but it was damaged enough for it to bleed, therefore leading a trail straight to it."

I was quite chuffed at myself actually, having been able to come to that conclusion. "If we follow that trail, it'll lead us straight to him and when we find him," I put up my thumb and dragged it across my throat with a smirk, "off with his head."

"You'd want the heart."

I frowned at him. "You're a real mood dampener, you know that?"

Of course he made no effort to reply but I decided to ignore him. Getting any conversation out of him was futile at that point, I had to accept the fact that we could never be 'chummy'. Whatever, I still had Ryu.

Wait. Right, I was ignoring him.

Well, I still had Aido and Takuma, and Yuuki – despite her, uh…condition – was the one girl I could stand to be around me. Besides Rima I mean, but she doesn't talk much.

Hmm, maybe the 'stay the hell away from me' vibes I've been emitting since I got here are the reason for Ruka's glares…

I didn't believe this at all. There was a specific reason why she was giving me the cold shoulder. Not that I cared (much), hell I didn't need her approval or anything.

But, and I hate to say this, the more curious side of me wanted answers. Then again there was always that saying. What was it again? 'Curiosity killed the cat.' Meh, according to western folklore I'm already dead.

At that point, I realised that the trail of blood that we were following led into a large, abandoned building that looked like a block of flats.

"Typical place for a Level E to reside," I muttered as I stared. It was all rundown, with every other window broken or not there at all. There were even some that were boarded up with planks of wood so I highly doubted any light would get in.

I heard Zero cock his gun next to me, so I unsheathed my daggers as a precaution. This was it; I could feel that the vampire was definitely inside.

"It's most likely going to be incredibly dark in there," I warned Zero. "My power barely works when there isn't enough light to harness, so if it comes down to life and death we'll have to draw it out into the open. Or at least in a room with a window that's facing the moon."

"I don't think we'll need to rely on your 'power.'"

My eyes whipped to the prefect in shock. The way he had said 'power' was just dripping with sarcasm and unlike most things thrown at me, it actually stung.

A lot.

Even more so than when people mistake me for being younger than I actually was.

I wanted to say something at this, I really did, but when I opened my mouth no sound came out. I couldn't even find the strength to argue and the baka didn't even notice how hurt I was by his words.

Oh yeah, he is so going back on my castrating list.

"We need to get in," he reminded me, annoyed at my stalling. "I'd like this process to be quick."

I sniffed and crossed my arms as I normally did when I was ticked off with someone. "Fine." If Zero noticed that I didn't like him at that particular moment, he didn't say.

I opened the rickety old door and it let out a very loud squeaking noise which suggested that it hadn't been oiled in a long time. I hoped that the Level E hadn't heard it; we needed the element of surprise on our side especially since this vampire was sane and, for some reason, exceptionally strong. Chances of him being a professional weightlifter before he 'turned' was quite high, but he had no muscles to back that up.

In the corner, a heard a rat squeak and scamper away on its little paws. Hearing that made me think back to the coffee shop.

That reminds me, I should probably tell Miaki about the place, she needs to know about it. I found it difficult to believe that she didn't know how it looked like now…maybe somebody else took care of it for her, like a stand-in. I mean, considering that she isn't even in the country anymore made perfect sense, but she still had a right to know.

Meh, it wasn't any of my business anyway.

But still, I remember him saying something about murders happening in that area. Was it just a coincidence? And why hadn't I heard of them before now, I mean considering that I live in an Academy right next to the damn place, you'd think that they would have some kind of warning.

Something told me I was going to pay that barman another visit soon. Something just didn't sit right in my stomach, like bad ramen.

Speaking of ramen, I was hungry. Didn't have any proper food since I was put through that depression. "Hey, Zero-san," I whispered.

He didn't respond, but I knew he could hear me. He was just ignoring me, because he didn't like me for reasons completely unspecified. I mean, sure I wanted to castrate him, but it's not like he knew that. "After this, you wanna join me for a cup of instant ramen in Kaien's kitchen? I'm kinda hungry."

"Hn," was the reply I got and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Was that a 'yeah sure, I'm totally down with that' or a 'when hell freezes over'?"

"Hn."

I frowned. "I'm taking that as a 'no.'"

"Hn."

I glared at him. "You know, Zero-san, I'm starting to think that you're purposely using your monosyllabic expressions to piss me off."

He didn't say anything to that and I groaned in frustration. Great, just great, we were back to square one. Typical.

We reached a flight of rather precarious-looking wooden stairs and I sighed. They were probably centuries old and they looked like they would break off completely if a person stepped on them. "You'd think they'd have the decency to install an elevator."

"They did," Zero said bluntly, pointing to some boards covering a hole in the wall where the elevator was supposed to be. The doors were gone so I could imagine that behind those boards was a crevice that marked the path of the elevator with its cables.

"Out of order, naturally," I said sarcastically. "Because I'm totally luck's bitch."

"We're going to have to search every floor," Zero stated.

Of course, he only talks to me when it's about work. "I hope for our benefit that it's on the first floor because I can tell you right now that I am not trusting those stairs."

"Nobody asked if you did," he said, passing next to me to be the first to go up them.

"They're like centuries old," I protested, following him much to my chagrin.

"There wouldn't be an elevator if they were made centuries ago," he pointed out.

"And there is no elevator," I reminded him in annoyance. "Seriously, all there is is a giant hole in the wall where it used to be. I mean, if the elevator is that bad don't you wonder how the stairs are gonna be like?"

"You're a vampire. Things like old stairs shouldn't scare you."

His voice had that 'now stop being such a pussy' tone in it that I hated. "I've lost more than enough blood the past two weeks. Like I've said, blood lost needs to be replaced and you're the only drink I have around here, but considering the fact that you hate me, I don't think you'd like that…at…all." I paused as an idea struck me. It was so amazing that I even thought I'd outdone myself. "Hold on. I am just about to be brilliant. Maybe hurting myself isn't a bad idea."

Zero gave me a confused expression and I grinned at this. "Just hear me out, okay? That vampire was incredibly injured by Ryu's gun. Now, assuming he hasn't eaten anyone in the past few hours he's lost a lot of blood and is probably pretty desperate. A vampire can smell blood a mile away, and well if I'm bleeding he'll smell it and come right towards us, right where we want him. How's that for a kickass idea?"

"It's stupid."

Point blank. Just like that, he didn't even hesitate. I was starting to think that he lived for making me feel useless. "You can't even consider -"

"It's stupid," he repeated.

I scowled at him. "And you're an asshole."

And that pretty much summed up our relationship. I was beginning to wonder how Yuuki was able to live with this guy for four years and maintain her sanity. But he was talking to me, there was that right?

We finally reached the first floor and there was a long corridor with doors on either side of it clearly indicating it was an apartment building. Neither of us wanted to split up so we just decided to carry on walking.

"You know," I said, looking around, "this would be a lot easier if we could just find that blood trail again. I mean, it just disappeared."

Zero said nothing as he stopped to open a door. It creaked from the obvious lack of oil over the year and the sound gave me chills down my spine. I was never a fan of horror movies, squeaking doors were just begging for trouble.

My fellow prefect looked inside the room, scanning it thoroughly before coming back out and shaking his head to tell me that he came up with nothing. So we moved on.

Every door we passed, either he or I would open it to check for some form of life – or death, according to Western culture anyway – but the results were always the same. We saw neither hide nor hair of the Level E and after checking another three floors, I was beginning to feel the frustration settling in.

"This is gonna take forever," I said softly to Zero. "Chances are, by the time we check every damn room in this place he'll have slipped past us."

The silver-haired prefect gave me a look that said 'then what else do you suggest, genius?' and I smiled. "Well, it's gonna take me a while so bear with me, but I'll use my heightened hearing and smell to locate him. It'll be tricky so I'll need complete silence and no distraction which, considering our interactions since we left, won't be a problem for you."

"Hn."

I took this as a yes, so I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated on the area around me. I tried to locate him through sniffing him out, but the smell of blood from his victims of whom he probably dragged here was everywhere and I couldn't pinpoint an exact location so I abandoned that idea and moved on to listening. This was particularly difficult because I didn't know what I was listening out for and the sound of crickets and the occasional owl were rather distracting.

Thump.

It was a dull sound, but I could definitely hear it. It sounded like footsteps, light footsteps. I craned my neck so I could at least get a sense of where the noise was coming from.

Thump.

I blinked my eyes open and glanced at the ceiling. "It seems to be coming from upstairs. The floor just above us, in the rooms located at the right."

Zero gave me a brisk nod and we soon backtracked to the stairs and climbed up them. I was too focused on the Level E being so close to worry about them falling under me. In no time flat we reached the next floor and there was a vile smell that seemed quite strong there.

"Dried blood," I said, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "About five days old. He's close by."

We walked cautiously through the place, checking each room on the right as discreetly as possible, still coming up with nothing. My eyebrows knit in confusion. There was no way my hearing failed me, it never had before.

Zero opened the last door in the corridor and then the stench of dried blood wafted through the area.

Oh yeah, this was definitely the place or my name isn't Kurosaki Kai.

We walked in, still keeping very cautious. The windows were all boarded up so there was barely any light for me to harness, making me slightly ticked off. I went in the opposite direction of Zero so we could better cover the room. My daggers were held up readily, my heightened senses on high alert so I could be ready for anything the world could throw at me…

"Eep!" I squealed.

Yeah, squealed. Like a mouse. I had felt something brush past my leg and it made me act like I was some hyperactive teenage girl. I inspected what had aroused such a reaction from me and when I did find it, I gasped.

A girl, no older than ten, was lying limp on the floor. Her hair was everywhere and her skin was the palest of white. Her eyes, which were wide open, had a blank expression on them.

She was dead.

And that bastard of a Level E had killed her.

I had never felt so angry in my life. He had killed her in cold blood, didn't even care if this poor girl had a family to go to.

I only wished I had a flower or something to put next to her. Something that her poor family would've wanted to do…

Crash!

I whipped my head around at the sound of that noise to see a shadowy figure run out of the room followed by a blanket of silver hair. It took me a full second to realise that the prefect was chasing the Level E out of the room and another second to realise that if he didn't get to it in time, it'd escape.

I suddenly wished I hadn't let my mind wander as I ran out the room. There was no way I could catch up to them in time so instead I settled for running into the next room, hoping there would be an open window. My eyes landed on a window that hadn't been boarded up (thank you Lady Luck!) and was open. I climbed onto the window pane and realised just how high I was.

Five stories.

Yes, I jumped out of windows quite regularly, but five stories?

Bitch please; I wasn't that eager to die.

I spotted a tree branch that was slightly below me and without a second thought I jumped onto it and then I dropped down from there. A much safer way to get down.

Just when I landed, the Level E burst out of the building with Zero in hot pursuit. His white gun was pointed directly at it and when he shot, the Level E stumbled forward. I rushed up to it with one of my daggers out of its sheath as it dragged itself up. Zero had shot his leg and it was helplessly limping away, not realising that in doing that he had limped straight into me.

His eyes widened as he recognised me. "Oh God…"

I grinned. "Remember me?" When he said nothing, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back so he couldn't move. "If you don't, I won't feel offended." I brought my mouth towards his ear and hissed menacingly, "Just know that I'm going to be the one that's going to send you to the darkest pits of hell."

And then I thrust my dagger through his heart.

Sonofabitch didn't stand a chance.

He fell to the ground when I pulled out the blood-soaked dagger. His body splayed all over like a ragdoll's.

By then, Zero had jogged up to me and looked at the body. I gave him a smirk. "Who said I still don't got it, huh?" I said, all chuffed with myself.

I sheathed my dagger and knelt to inspect the body. First I checked the neck, though I knew that I wouldn't find anything because wounds healed quite fast when you were a vamp.

But what my eyes landed on was a dainty picture on his neck. It looked like a tattoo almost, and it was a stylised drawing of a flower.

I shivered involuntarily. The last time I had seen that picture was a long time ago...

"Find anything?" I heard Zero ask me.

I whipped my head up and quickly covered the Level E's flower picture with his hair. "Nothing out of the ordinary," I lied smoothly. "Let's go, I think Kaien would feel better knowing that we're unharmed."

Zero said nothing when he followed me out of the cathedral, leaving the body there. It didn't matter, sooner or later it would become dust and would blow away in the wind without a trace.

I couldn't help but feel guilty for that little girl, and quite possibly countless other deaths. I felt as if I could've done something, that I should've known. So why didn't I? Why weren't we alerted of these murders?

Why were we kept in the quiet?

* * *

**And done ^^**

**Now, there are some questions some of you may want to ask but are too shy to, well this is going to clear up any fog going on in your head.**

**1. This story is _not_ according to canon. There may be canon _events_ that I'll feel are beneficial to the story, but apart from that don't expect the story to be on point with the series.**

**2. This is _not_ a Yuuki/Zero or a Kaname/Yuuki story, so please refrain yourselves from asking who she'll be with. This story is about _Kai._**

**If there's anything else you're confused about, don't hesitate to ask.**

**I know what you're wondering "Where's the fucking _romance?"_ Yeah, there'll be plenty of that later on, I assure you.**

**Now for the standings for the poll ^^**

**Zero-10**

**Penguin-2**

**Kai-0**

**Kaname-0**

**Aido-0**

**OMFG! I have votes! THANK YOU MINNA! YOU'S IS SOOOOO AWESOME!**

**Kaname: You only two votes, don't get too excited.**

**I'd rather have two than nothing :p**

**Kaname: -_-"**

**Ryu: Oooooh! You want some ice for dat burn? XD**

**Ryu! Don't be mean to Kaname! Just because he's a bitch and you aren't gives you no right to treat him so unfairly.**

**Aido: And how many votes do I have this time.**

**Ryu: Squat :)**

**Aido: O.O**

**Kai: :)**

**Zero: -_-**

**Aido: OMGWTF NOOOOOOO! My darling fans! How could you abandon me?**

**Don't worry, I'm sure you have fans...somewhere.**

**Aido: -_-" thanks, I feel so much better.**

**Ryu: What does the winner get anyway?**

**The super special awesome chocolatey fudge coated title of Sexy Boss Man or Boss Lady :D**

**Zero:...that's all?**

***nods eagerly***

**Zero: Fuck this, I'm out.**

**Wait, Zerorin-chan! Don't go!**

**Kaname: Too late.**

**STFU Kaname, nobody cares about you.**

**Kaname: -_-"**

**Umm, while we're sorting this dilemma out, don't forget to review minna-san! I'm open to all questions and I'm thinking of even replying to your reviews as soon as I get them.**

**Kai: Don't forget to vote.**

**YES! VOTE ON PENGUIN'S POLL, and state _why_ you chose that person. The poll will be taken down as soon as Chp 7 is up!**

**So review, vote, state and ask! No question is too stupid!**

**Penguin and the VK crew are out. Peace XD**


End file.
